The White Twi'lek
by Katana-Geldar
Summary: Jali Dawler is back, and now he's a Private-Eye. The Sequel to The Seventh Star
1. Chapter 1

**Title: **_The White Twi'lek_, sequel to _The Seventh Star_

**Author:** KatanaGeldar

**Genre:** Hard-boiled detective fiction

**Characters:** OCs, Jali Dawler, Captain Vantel, Nuada Vekstar, Tira Sengel and some new ones.

**Timeframe:** c. 43 BBY (about six months after _The Seventh Star_ finishes)

**Summary:** Jali's back, and now he's a Private Eye. He's set up his own private investigation business, but somehow trouble—and murder—always manage to find him.

**Disclaimer:** Star Wars is not mine; I just like to write with it. The original characters are my own creations.

**Note:** After all the fun I had with Jali in _The Seventh Star_ I decided to continue with him into the realms of the private investigator. A lot of thanks must go to one of my friends who has a degree in chemistry and her dad was a P.I.. She gave me a great idea for one of the murders in this fic. Thanks must also go to my sister, currently doing Biomed Science, for her help with rigor mortis and its effects.

If you haven't met Jali yet, you should read _The Seventh Star_ before delving into this. I hate sequels that are little more than a rehash of the previous story, so I don't go into too much detail in what happened before.

This story is a little longer than _Star_ as well as having a much more extended ending. Following from this there will be a final Jali story, _The Silver Ring_. As with _Star_, there will be a point at where all the clues will be revealed and you can see how observant you were.

_Dedicated to Agatha Christie, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Dashiell Hammett and Phillip K. Dick_

**The White Twi'lek**

Jali Dawler opened the flat-file and removed several items. He placed them on his desk one by one. A few holopics, several hard copies of documents, and a datachip.

Cel'uura'na, a Nikto, studied the holopics, her finned face showing no emotion, her black eyes perfectly neutral.

Jali made no comment; he drew on his cigarette and tried not to watch her. She was only one of the many women who came into his office that asked if there husband was seeing someone else. And she was only one of the many women he had to break the bad news to.

When her gaze moved from the holopics to the documents, Jali felt that he should say something.

"The top two pages are summaries of the places he's been over the past week," he told her. "Then there's a few transcripts of…conversations." Cel'uura'na looked up at this and Jali averted her gaze, remembering with some amusement the length he had had to go to get the transcripts. If Cel'uura'na hadn't specifically requested them, he probably wouldn't have bothered.

"The datachip is the electronic copy of everything here, plus some more," Jali continued. He usually presented his clients with an abridged version in the folder with the bulk in electronic form. It saved printing costs, and he wasn't that keen to throw money away like that. "Is this going to be all that you'll need?"

He assumed that she would file for divorce, most of them did after they left his office. Sometimes, if they asked, he referred them to a lawyer he knew and would slip him a few creds for a referral, but from the look that Cel'uura'na was giving him, Jali had the impression she had other ideas.

She took up the datachip and examined it for a moment, she then looked up. "Yes." Cel'uura'na gave him a hard stare, her words came out in a low hiss. "You have performed well, detective," she said. "I will no longer need your services. As for my husband…" Her eyes flashed darkly as she said the words.

Jali wanted to question her intentions, but decided not to. He knew that infidelity was dealt with in many different ways, depending on species or culture. Besides, it wasn't really his business to interfere. After all, he was no longer a Security Officer.

"All right then." Jali grabbed a scrap of flimsy, he scribbled something on it then handed it to Cel'uura'na. "Give this to Miss Retov, she'll let you know how much and how to pay." As if on cue, the comm unit on his desk buzzed. Jali pressed the button.

"Mr Rinner is here," said Ayan Retov, Jali's secretary.

"Send him in," Jali told her, rising from his seat and seeing Cel'uura'na to the door.

Jali slid open the door to let the Nikto out just as a tall, red-haired male in his mid-twenties was placing down a magazine in the waiting room. He was tall and lanky, with the pasty skin that was characteristic of redheads, and dressed in a brown, synthleather sleeveless tunic over a cream shirt.

_He looks like he just got out of amateur's school_, Jali said to himself; but he was the best of the not very desirable applicants Jali had interviewed.

He started to walk towards Jali, his face posing a question.

Jali cocked his head to one side. "Xhen Rinner?" There was a nod in reply, Jali moved out of the doorway. "Step into my office," he said, closing the door behind them.

Jali slid into the chair behind his desk, stubbed out the spent cigarette he was holding and lit up another. He offered the packet to Xhen but he declined. Jali took a deep draw then rested the cigarette against the ashtray.

It had been about a year since he had got out of prison, nine months since his record had been cleared, and four months since Tira's trial. Tira Sengel, his former girlfriend, murderer of his best friend and victim of the criminal organisation the Silver Ring, was serving her two sentences in a maximum security prison on Coruscant. Jali tried not to think about her, and in the months since he had set up his private detective agency it wasn't that hard.

Was it only seven months since he had been granted his license? It seemed much longer, even given the few cases that he had taken. A month after that he had set up his office in a mid-level building in Eastport. The rent was high, but that was the way it was on Coruscant. A Sullustan would even call it cramped, and there was the faint smell of rancid cheese that he hadn't been able to banish.

There was the Zabrak secretary, Ayan Retov, who despite her accomplishments handling his appointments and records made stimcaf with a texture that was reminiscent of steamed hawk-bat leavings.

This was why Jali bought a large flask of it every morning. It was still over half-full and he offered some to Xhen who declined. Jali poured himself a generous mug then stubbed out his cigarette. He leaned back in his chair and studied Xhen for a few minutes.

"Well," Jali said at last, "before we start anything, I'll tell you what to expect. I'm going to let you run by my side for a bit before I let you loose on a case. It's nothing against you, it's just so I can see how you operate."

Xhen started to object. "But my old boss on Muscave—"

Jali waved this concern away. "I know what he said when I talked to him, but there are things that I just like to find out for myself."

"That's understandable," Xhen agreed.

"You'll find that most of the cases aren't very interesting," Jali continued. "Private investigation is a lot tamer than what's shown on the HoloNet. Most of the cases are divorces or divorce-related, checking up on husbands or wives to give them evidence to take to court. Then there's the missing persons cases, but I don't get very many of those." He took a sip of stimcaf then put down his mug. "Occasionally," he added, picking up the cigarette again, "a different case will come. Like last week when I was asked to triple-check a senator's security system."

"Don't they have their own security?" Xhen asked, intrigued.

Jali shrugged. "Yeah, they do, but I didn't ask." He took a draw from the cigarette. "There's some limited equipment for surveillance, you can probably guess why, and I'd prefer if you weren't so liberal in your printouts. Case files are stored on datacards, the client gets a chip of their file if they want more records and Ayan does all the accounting." He took another draw from the cigarette and tapped out the ash. "Any questions?"

"Yeah, a few," said Xhen. "Where will I be working?"

"There's a small office down the corridor next to the refresher," Jali told him, stubbing out the cigarette in the ashtray. "And before you ask, I can't do anything about the smell."

"I can live with that," Xhen said.

Before Xhen could say something else, the comm unit on Jali's desk buzzed. With a wry smile at Xhen, Jali activated it.

"Deri Lanco is here," Ayan said. "Will I send him in?"

"Sure," Jali said, "just a few minutes." Jali got up from his desk and Xhen followed him to the door. "How 'bout you get acquainted with your office, you can start tomorrow."

"Sounds fine, Mr Dawler," Xhen said.

"By the way," Jali said as he opened the door, "the name's Jali." He offered his hand to Xhen and they shook, then he opened the door and nodded to the male Falleen waiting outside.

---------------------------------

Later, after Lanco had gone when Ayan had left for the night, Jali and Xhen wandered down to the Five Brothers, a club near enough Jali's office to be convenient and far enough to be in a different neighbourhood. Jali had been there several times, sometimes to establish contacts, once for surveillance, but mostly for the atmosphere.

This was his first chance to _really_ get to know Xhen. To know if Xhen would be staying on more than a standard week.

It was still quite early in the evening, but the club had a good crowd when Jali and Xhen arrived. There were some in the central bar area, and others in the five adjoining rooms named after the planets in the Corellia system.

They took a table in the Talus Room—which of course connected with the Tralus Room next door. A band of Weequay performed a tinny percussion number near the door.

"Was it your intention to make me feel right at home?" Xhen asked, raising his voice so Jali could hear him.

Jali shrugged as he lit up, Xhen's application _did_ say that he was Corellian even though he had spent most of his life on Muscave, but that fact had only crossed his mind as they had entered the club. A mere coincidence.

"No, I just come here sometimes," Jali admitted, wisps of smoke escaping from his mouth. "You know how there are places you go to and places you go to for a reason? This is place I just go to."

"I see," Xhen agreed, but clearly he didn't.

The moment of silence was broken by a waitress arriving at their table. She took their orders for drinks then left.

"So, Muscave," Jali mused, drawing from the cigarette. "I thought with you being Corellian you would be more for CorSec, why the Capital?"

"It's pretty much where I found something that suited me," Xhen replied with a shrug. "You know how it is, sometimes." He stared into space for a few moments as if he was deciding which version of the truth to relate. "I was attached to a bureaucrat's security detail as an enforcer, until someone higher-up recommended me for another position."

"The Techno-Union one?" Jali asked.

"Yeah," Xhen said. "So it was better, for a while anyway. I was one of the guys in charge, at least until I found out a few things I shouldn't have." He shrugged again. "That's when I figured I'd make myself scarce. I contacted my old boss and then came here, you know the rest."

Their drinks arrived. Jali's was a Janx Spirit, Xhen's a thick white liquid that Jali couldn't identify. Jali put a credit chip on the Zeltron's tray as payment.

"That's how it is, these days," Jali agreed, setting his drink down. "One of my friends found out something he shouldn't and got himself killed."

"Was he an enforcer too?" Xhen asked, wiping white liquid from his lips.

"No, Security Force," Jali told him.

"I think I heard about that, Antilles was his name, wasn't it?" Xhen asked.

Jali nodded. "Yeah, Tollan Antilles." He didn't really want to discuss Tollan, not with Xhen anyway. Criminal organisations could be talked about later, when he was sure he could trust his new assistant.

But Xhen seemed keen to press the subject. "There's been a few stories about his death, hasn't there?"

"Yeah, there would be, wouldn't there?" Jali replied, keen to change the subject.

Fortunately, the waitress reappeared. "Jali Dawler?"

Jali acknowledged her with a nod. "Who wants to know?"

"Could you come with me please, there's something wrong with this credit chip," she said.

"Something wrong?" Jali looked at her incredulously. "Have you tried scanning it again? There should be enough currency on there."

She gave him a look that froze off any further protests. "I think I know what I'm doing," she said in a low voice.

Xhen started to check his pockets. "I think I've got a few creds I can spare," he said.

Jali waved him off. "I said that I'm buying when we came in, remember?" He reminded Xhen, stubbing out his cigarette. "It's probably nothing." With a sigh, Jali got to his feet. "I'll be back in a minute." He followed her into the main bar.

---------------------------------

It was actually the scanning machine that was at fault, so the transaction took not time at all once the machine was working again. Before returning to the table, he took a detour to the refresher.

Xhen wasn't actually a bad sort. A bit cagey about himself, but who wasn't these days?

_If nothing else happens_, Jali decided as he left the 'fresher, _he can stay on, but I still have to see him in action_.

Back in the Talus room, Jali could see Xhen talking to a Bith. The Bith carried some sort of wind instrument and was gesturing to Xhen with it; it looked like some sort of argument. But before Jali could get to the table, a waitress led a large group of people past and when the crowd had cleared the Bith was gone.

"So, who was your friend?" Jali asked casually, another cigarette lit and resting between his fingers.

Xhen looked at him. "Who?"

"The Bith with the blower," Jali reminded him. "Who was he?"

"Him? Oh…" Xhen made an impatient gesture. "He just wanted to know if this was the Selonia Room, I told him it wasn't."

Jali frowned, inhaling on the cigarette. "Couldn't he read the signs?" The rooms were labelled pretty clearly.

"Maybe he was just given wrong directions," Xhen suggested, eager to drop the subject.

They talked about other things now, podracing on Malastare, the best way to have giju stew, air traffic pile-ups on Coruscant compared to the ones on Muscave…

The club started to fill up with people, several females made their way to Jali and Xhen's table despite efforts to dissuade them. After a seemingly non-verbal agreement, Jali and Xhen decided to leave.

Jali reached for his drink, for some strange reason he hadn't touched it since he had got back from the refresher. But before he could get to it their table was bumped by the waitress as she passed it, knocking over the glass and spilling what was left of the green liquid.

She looked up apologetically at them. "Ooh, was that me?" she trilled. "I'm so sorry, I'll get you another one on the house."

"No need," Jali said as he stood up, extinguishing his final cigarette in the laden ashtray. "We were just leaving."


	2. Chapter 2

Jali had several appointments the next morning, most of them were finishing off cases and he had Xhen locate their files to find the various documents needed. With one or two of the cases Jali had Xhen sit in the room with him so he could observe what happened when a case was finished. What Jali saw that morning more or less satisfied him. While Xhen might not be one of the first stars to come out at night, Jali knew he would do all right.

They were just about done with the morning's appointments when the comm unit buzzed. Stubbing out his spent cigarette, Jali answered it.

"There's a Ms. Vertey here to see you," Ayan said. "She doesn't have an appointment, but she says it's pretty urgent."

"What sort of urgent?" Jali asked. He would have preferred to deal with this Ms Vertey tomorrow, but Ayan's next words convinced him otherwise.

"I can't really get much out of her," the Zabrak answered in a low voice. "She seems pretty upset, shall I send her in?"

Jali glanced at Xhen who shrugged. "Send her in," Jali said, taking his hand off the comm unit as the door opened.

Ayan's description of the young woman was an understatement, her hair was windblown, her face was streaked with tears and she trembled slightly as she walked into the room. Xhen vacated the room's only other chair and was about to leave when Jali motioned him to stay.

"If you don't mind, ma'am, I'd like my assistant to sit in on this interview," Jali said, she had no objections. Jali was all smiles as he invited her to sit down and asked her if she wanted some stimcaf. She declined, sitting down carefully on the seat offered and gripping her white purse between her hands. The woman was not very tall, slightly shorter than Jali with dark hair and a face so nondescript and unremarkable that if Jali had been asked to describe her later on he would have had difficulty.

"I understand you're a new client, Ms Vertey," Jali said gently when the woman wouldn't speak. "Could you tell me a few things about yourself?" He lit up another cigarette.

She gave her full name, Elya Vertey and an address in Eastport, her voice still trembling as she spoke.

_For all that she's upset_, Jali mused as he took down these details, _she's not volunteering much information._

"Now," Jali continued, taking this one step at a time, "could you tell me why you came to see me, ma'am. I'll need a few details if I'm going to help you."

"It's about my husband," Elya said, wiping away a few tears.

_How many times have I heard that?_ Jali said to himself, forgoing the temptation to smile.

"Is he causing you any trouble, ma'am?" Jali asked cautiously.

"No, I don't know where he is," Elya answered.

_A missing case_, Jali realised at once, they were usually long, complicated and yielded very little result. "All right, how long has it been since you have seen him?" Jali asked.

"Three days," Elya said. 

_All right_, Jali thought, _she came to see me a bit too early, so she may be the panicky sort. _He gave her a reassuring smile. "Sometimes it takes a long time to find someone," Jali reminded her.

"I know, but he isn't like that," Elya said. "He would have said something, I would _know_."

Jali frowned. _There's something more here_, he thought, but chose not to question it just now.

"You've notified the authorities, of course?" Jali asked.

"I notified the Security Force," she said. "But they've done nothing to help."

"I'm sure," Xhen reassured, "they must have done _something_."

Elya sniffed contemptuously. "Oh yes, if you call reassuring me that he's quite all right and will turn up any day now actually _doing_ something."

"Sometimes things don't happen as fast as we would like them to," Jali said lightly, he knew that from his own experiences that such reassurances were commonplace. "We need to get down to particulars; can you tell us his name?"

"Lucen, Lucen Vertey," she told them, "he worked in customs at Eastport."

"And when was it that you last saw him?" Jali asked, silencing Xhen with a look as he opened his mouth to say something.

Elya looked at him rather sharply. "I already told you that, it was three days ago."

"I wouldn't ask questions if I didn't need answers," Jali reminded her gently. "I need details, when _exactly_ did you last see him? Was it in the morning or the evening?"

Elya considered the question. "Yes, it was in the morning," she said. "He left home to go to work and told me to expect me at the usual time."

"And what time was that?" Jali pressed, Elya stared at him. "I need to know _everything_ if I'm going to find him," he added.

"I usually expected him home at about seventeen thirty," Elya replied. "He called me a few minutes after seventeen and he said that he needed to go and see someone and might be a little late."

"Do you have any idea who this was?" Jali asked.

"No," Elya answered.

Jali noted this down. "And when did you realise something was wrong?"

"It was about nineteen thirty when he didn't come home," Elya said, shivering at the recollection. "I was about frantic, calling all our friends, all his friends, anyone I can think of…" She wiped away another tear. "It was the next morning when his boss called me asking where he was that I notified authorities."

Jali nodded. "I'll need a description, as well as any pictures you have of him."

From a well-worn handbag, Elya removed a few printed holopics. Jali looked over them carefully and passed them on to Xhen when he had finished. Lucen had fair skin, hair that was between brown and blond and grey-blue eyes. Jali made a note of this on the datapad. "How tall is he?" he asked. "Is there anything else distinguishing about him that I can't see here?" He tapped one of the holopics.

"He's taller than me," she said, "about a metre seven, but there's nothing that really stands out about Lucen."

This was the case with so many that Jali wasn't very disappointed. "And one final thing, can you remember what he was _wearing_?"

Elya considered a moment. "They wear a sort of uniform at Eastport, so he was wearing that," she said. "He had a black holdall that I put his lunch in and where he put his papers, and grey boots with a white stripe down the outside.

"Right," he said, closing the datapad, "I need to make a few calls regarding this, I'll have to be up to speed on where the Security Force is. Xhen's going to take down a few more details, names and addresses of friends and family we might need to contact."

"But that's already been done," Elya protested. "I thought that you would do something _different_."

Jali gave her a half-smile. "We _do_ do something different," Jali told her, "it just starts the same, that's all."

Taking the cue, Xhen picked up his own datapad and ushered Elya into his office. When he was alone, Jali called Pallavi Dashiell.

A low female voice responded on the other end. "Officer Dashiell speaking," she said.

Pallavi was a young Security Force officer; she had only been with them in the last few years so Jali hadn't known her before his time in jail. He had met her on one of his cases and Pallavi had said she had been impressed with the way he had handled Tollan Antilles' case. They had dated a few times, but it had gone no further than that and Jali didn't blame her for it.

Now and then she helped him out with information, whether it actually passed into her hands or not.

"Hi, I thought I'd just get a quick vector on you," he said into the link.

There was a pause and the sound of movement at the other end. "Jali, why do you always catch me at a bad time?" Pallavi teased.

"What's going on, you in the 'fresher?" Jali teased.

"No, worse, I was with Vantel," she answered. "Just about to get a grilling about the Lanco case. He thinks that _I_ should have got it before _you_ did."

"Hey, you would have beat me if you had just asked the right people like I did," Jali defended.

"That's what you always say," Pallavi argued, but there was a hint of a laugh in her voice. "Okay, what is it you want?"

"Guy named Vertey, Lucen Vertey," he told her. "I just got a new case about him."

"Haven't heard of him," she said. "You sure it's one of ours?"

"Possibly," conceded Jali. "Fact is, he's been missing and I've just had his wife complain about the lack of results from your end."

"No one I know is handling it," Pallavi said, "but I can make inquiries. I'll let you know when I have something."

---------------------------------

It was getting towards the afternoon when Jali and Xhen finally emerged from the office. They caught a turbolift down and walked out onto the main street of Eastport. Wherever you looked there was movement, the landspeeders and walkers along the road, the air-traffic that coasted never-endingly above. And even, Jali knew, beneath their feet was activity. The cityscape went endlessly down, down to the less desirable regions such as Vos Gesal Street and Lopek Avenue with the nightclubs, tapcafes, strip joints and other disreputable places.

But on the surface, at Eastport, with the Senate Building looming majestically in the distance and the Column Commons just ahead, things were a little more at ease. And Jali felt a little more at ease. Still, he was ever on the lookout for any trouble, you never knew just when it would come.

"I still don't get that," Xhen said to Jali as they waited for a set of lights to change. "Notifying you this soon after he disappeared?"

Jali shrugged. "As long as she's paying for it, I'm not arguing. Besides," he added, "she probably wouldn't have gone to these measures unless she was sure something happened to him." He gave Xhen a sideways glance. "Not everyone lives for excitement, you know."

"True," Xhen agreed as they continued walking.

On the next block was Eastport Docking Facility, their destination. They stopped outside.

"So what's our first point of call?" Jali asked Xhen, who hadn't spoken since they had left the office.

Xhen held up a datapad with a list of names and addresses on it. "W'kar Fenn," he said. "He was Vertey's immediate supervisor Eastport Docking Facility." He looked at Jali. "He's a Duro, rather pushy, she said."

"Most of 'em are," Jali said dryly. "Anyone else of interest?"

"There's a whole bunch of friends that she gave the names for," Xhen told him. "But Daur Kremoine should be here too, he worked with Vertey."

The spaceport was busy, people everywhere with luggage, droids and load-lifters with hoversleds, hawkers trying to sell tickets to the smaller commercial liners. Eastport dealt mainly with walking cargo, yet there were a few large freighters came here, sometimes taking passengers on board as well.

Jali lit up a cigarette, but he had hardly put it in his mouth when a small droid appeared out of nowhere and buzzed near his shoulder.

"No smoking here, sir," the droid said bossily, thrusting an ashtray under Jali's nose.

"Okay, okay, just give me a second," Jali complained, sulkily stubbing the lit cigarette in the ashtray before the droid rushed off to bother someone else.

They had to find the customs offices. Senior staff, like W'kar Fenn, were likely to be located on the upper levels even though most of the work was done where the docking bays were. He and Xhen ducked into a turbolift that was already occupied by a Bith carrying a large flat crate on a hoversled, the Bith headed out on a level where the freighters usually docked and Xhen and Jali got out on the next floor.

"W'kar Fenn?" asked the receptionist. "You've just missed him; he's sorting out an issue on the freight level."

"Wouldn't he have someone to do that for him?" Jali asked her.

The receptionist shrugged. "Someone from downstairs wanted someone from upstairs, and so he went. You'll find him in Bay 24."

---------------------------------

Bay 24 contained a ship that could be described as your average freighter, carbon-scored with the residue of occasional encounters with pirates, the hatch to its cargo hold was wide open—but empty. The cargo, or what there was of it, was being examined by Eastport officials while a Duro held a loud conversation with a belligerent Falleen who looked as if he was the captain of this vessel. The shouts were audible before Jali and Xhen had entered the room.

"This search is completely unprecedented!" he complained. "I demand an explanation for this outrageous act!"

"I have official orders to have all ships going have to have their cargo checked and searched," the Duro explained tiredly, holding up a few documents. "This is just a formality, nothing more."

"I certainly hope so," fumed the Falleen, turning away from him to make sure his cargo wasn't treated too roughly.

The Duro watched them, his arms folded. Jali walked towards him. "W'kar Fenn?"

His head turned. "Yeah, who wants to know?" He examined Jali and Xhen suspiciously.

"I'm Jali Dawler, this is Xhen Rinner." He offered his hand, Fenn didn't take it. "I was wondering if we could talk about Lucen Vertey."

Fenn sniffed disdainfully. "Yeah, well, if you see him, tell him from me that he's fired." He walked away.

Jali followed him, Xhen was close behind. "His wife asked me to find him and I was hoping you could help."

"There's nothing I can tell you," Fenn spat, stopping short and glaring at Jali, he didn't look at Xhen. "I saw him three days ago when he came here for work and then left here at the end of his shift with his friend Kremoine."

"Any idea where they may have gone?" Xhen asked.

"Ask him," Fenn suggested, still looking at Jali. "I don't make it a policy to follow my employees around."

"Is there anything unusual that you can remember?" Jali asked. "Anything that might give us an idea of why he disappeared?"

"Nope, or I would have told the Security Force when they came calling round here," he snapped. "Anything else? You want to know what he had for lunch that day?"

"No thanks," Jali said, flashing a smile that further infuriated the Duro. "You were a real help."

Still scowling, Fenn stomped off to the turbolift.

"Nice guy," Xhen observed.

"Yeah, a real friendly sort," agreed Jali.

"So Kremoine's next?" Xhen asked.

"Yep," Jali replied, though not really paying attention. "We'll probably find him back in that docking bay."

In their absence, something had happened. Jali and Xhen could hear the Falleen's angry protests before they got near the door.

"I don't know how that got in there!" he complained. "Look, I don't even _know_ the guy, so don't bother asking!"

Jali wrinkled his nose. "Can you smell something?" he asked Xhen, putting his hand to his face.

Xhen had his hand over his mouth and nose too. "What is it?" he asked, his voice slightly muffled.

Jali didn't answer, there had been a few times when he was in the Security Force when he had encountered a similar smell, or rather stench. Rot…decay…it made his stomach turn a little.

One of the officials turned around as he heard Jali and Xhen approach. "You guys Security Force?" He asked, gesturing to the open crate with the hand that wasn't covering his nose. "You might want to take a look at this, more your line than ours." He stepped aside so Jali could see.

It was the body of a man, a human male about a metre seven with hair between blond and brown. But it wasn't a pretty sight, Jali's stomach gave another turn. What could be seen of Vertey's skin was tinged blue, his face was swollen and his purple tongue was sticking out through his puffed-up lips. 

Jali blinked then took out the holopic that Elya had given him.

Xhen stared, his face turned paler. "That's…"

"It is," Jali nodded, he stepped back and glanced at the chrono on his wrist. "Lucen Vertey, found after about one hour and forty-five minutes."


	3. Chapter 3

The Security Force arrived to claim the body and soon enough Jali and Xhen were in the waiting room of the lockbox, Security Force headquarters. Xhen still looked pale.

"What's wrong with you?" Jali asked him with a reassuring smile. "You look like a namju fish on the end of a vibroprod. Dead bodies are awful, and they can get a lot worse than that."

Xhen shuddered. "I've just never come across a murder before."

Jali raised an eyebrow. "Who said anything about murder?"

"He was stuffed in that crate about to be shipped off-planet," Xhen pointed out. "If that isn't suspicious, call me a bantha."

"You're right about that being suspicious," Jali agreed, "but I can think of several reasons why Vertey was in that crate, and not all of them have to do with him being murdered."

Xhen shrugged. "Yeah, well, like I said."

"Dawler?" Jali's head whipped around. "I'm not in the least bit surprised to find you here."

Jali gave Captain Vantel half a smile. Leyon Vantel had been his superior while he was in the Security Force and had always seemed to have some kind of problem with him. This had increased after Vantel had offered him his job back when Jali's record had been cleared, Jali had declined and his old boss still seemed to hold this against him.

"I'm doing what I do best," Jali said following Vantel past the security barrier. "Getting up to my neck in something that's in your way." He beckoned to Xhen to follow and the door shut behind them.

"Well, not for long," Vantel said, escorting them down a corridor and through another set of doors. 

Vantel looked at Xhen as if he was noticing him for the first time. "This your new runner, Dawler?" he asked Jali mockingly.

"His name's Xhen Rinner," Jali snapped, "and give him a break, it's his first day."

"First day and already a death," commented Vantel.

Jali sighed. "Give it a rest, would you?"

"It's okay, I can handle it," Xhen said, lightly touching Jali's arm.

They walked the rest of the way in silence.

"Step into my office," Vantel said, stopping by an open door, "there's a few hard facts you have to hear before you have any of your flights of imagination."

Inside, and getting to her feet, was Pallavi Dashiell, Jali made the necessary introductions and they sat down at Vantel's desk.

"We made the interviews when Vertey's wife first reported him missing three days ago," Vantel told them. "So here are the facts, we have a record of a call he made to his wife shortly after seventeen. According to a friend of his, Daur Kremoine, Vertey was last seen leaving a bar near Eastport, the Idobal, around seventeen-ten. According to Kremoine, the two of them had been having a disagreement with a Bith and a white-skinned Twi'lek woman before he left."

"Any details on this?" Jali asked.

"Yeah, but they're immaterial," Vantel spat. "After the autopsy results come in, I'm willing to put it to the fact that he'd had one too much, and someone met up with him on the way home and had another disagreement with him."

_Trust Vantel to jump to the wrong conclusions without any facts_, Jali thought. 

"Have you got anything right now to back this up?" Xhen asked.

"There's a large wound on the back of his skull," Vantel told him, "it looks big enough to have done the job. Our med, Jaydee will confirm it when he's finished."

"I'd like to see the body," Jali said.

Vantel frowned. "You saw it plenty when you found it, didn't you?" He narrowed his eyes at Jali. "Dawler, do I have to tell you _again_ to stay out of this?"

"You told me last time and I didn't listen because I thought there was something more to the case, and there was," Jali reminded him. "His widow hired me to find him, I did and I want to be able to give her some answers."

"That's what _we_ do, Jali," Pallavi reminded him, giving him an arch look.

"Well, more answers than _you'll_ be able to give her," Jali said.

Vantel's face twitched as if he was having an argument with himself. On the one hand he wanted to tell Jali to go to hell, on the other he wanted him out of his hair. The latter argument won.

"I'll talk to Jaydee," Vantel said, standing up, "but I don't make any promises. Wait here." He strode out of the room.

When he was sure that Vantel had gone, Jali turned to Pallavi. "So where do you fit in on all of this?"

Pallavi Dashiell was short and slight, her narrow build made her blue and yellow uniform sort of hang on her. She had dark hair, streaked with red, a bit dishevelled from wearing her helmet.

"Vantel just heard I was making enquires," Pallavi told him.

"Enquiries on _my_ behalf?" Jali probed.

"Yes," Pallavi said, throwing him another look.

Xhen stared between them, his face confused. "Have I missed something here?"

"Not really," Jali said dryly. "So who is handling the case?"

"Kian," Pallavi told him, she noticed his face screw up. "Don't look like that, he's very thorough."

"I know, that's what's so infuriating about him," Jali complained.

"Jali," Pallavi said gently. "Vantel's right about you not getting involved."

Jali sighed. "Don't tell me he's got on _your_ case too!"

"That has nothing to do with it," Pallavi hissed. "Listen, I've been hearing things about this case, apparently there's more people interested in it than you think."

"What kind of people?" Jali asked.

"Don't ask, it's just what I heard," Pallavi said.

"But why?" Xhen asked. "Like Vantel said, it sounds pretty straightforward."

"If someone else is interested, then it's anything _but_ that," Jali pointed out.

It was that moment that Vantel chose to appear in the doorway. "I got you two a look in, you've got five minutes." He looked at Pallavi. "Dashiell, you don't need to be here."

"Yes sir," Pallavi said, glancing at Jali over her shoulder as they went down the corridor in different directions.

---------------------------------

As Jaydee, the Rhodian coroner, kept a monologue going of the specifics of his findings, Jali examined Lucen Vertey's body. He was facedown on the table with the skin of the back of his head peeled back and a section of his skull missing so they could see his brain. Xhen was standing well-back and Jali didn't blame him.

"You done any more tests?" he asked Jaydee. "Any traces of any chemicals?"

Jaydee looked strangely at Jali, unfortunately he wore a surgical mask and hood covering most of his face like Jali and Xhen were so there was no way they could see his whole expression. "No, there's nothing and why should there be? It's clear what killed him, isn't it?" He pointed to the carved-up skull.

_He's as short-sighted as Vantel_, Jali observed.

"Is there anything else?" Jaydee asked him.

"One more question," Jali asked. "How long has he been dead?"

"That's quite hard to tell definitely," Jaydee explained. "I'd say he's been dead at least two days, three at the most. Being trapped in that cold air-tight box has helped, of course."

"I see, thanks for your help, Doc," Jali said, with a grunt Jaydee left him and Xhen alone.

"What do you think?" Xhen asked, turning away from the body ands taking several deep breaths. "I know there's what I said earlier, but I'm inclined to agree with Vantel."

"So am I," said Jali, he looked over a tray of Vertey's clothes and belongings. "It's just there's something…not right." With a gloved hand, he held up a cocktail napkin. The corner was printed with the address of the Idobal, the bar where Vertey had last been seen.

"What do you mean?" Xhen asked.

"I'm not so sure," Jali admitted. "And there's some questions that I wouldn't mind being answered."

"Such as?"

Jali put the napkin down. "Such as what Vertey was expecting to do in that hour or so after he left the Idobal."

They left the examination room and removed their masks and hoods, for a few minutes Jali stared at Vertey's body through the windows and didn't speak. They both turned when they heard the door open. In walked Vantel with Jaydee, and a woman that Jali could not identify. There was a definite sense of confidence about her, and there was the strange fact that both Vantel and Jaydee seemed to defer to her. _And she looks hardly older than Pallavi_, Jali observed, _she has to be some sort of Judicial_. She was tall, had blonde hair framing her face and wore a blue grey coat and tall black boots.

Vantel stared at Jali as if surprised to see him. "Dawler, I thought you'd left."

Jali smiled at him. "You never asked me to."

Vantel returned Jali's smile, but there was no mirth behind it. "In that case, I'll ask you to leave right now."

"No, Vantel," said the woman, "I wouldn't mind talking to them." She offered Jali and Xhen her hand. "I'm Antiene Laras, I heard you found Vertey's body."

_Definitely some kind of Judicial_, Jali decided. He had dealt with people from the Judicial Department before; they were an extension of the Senate and had greater powers than the Security Force. More than once, he had been taken off a case due to orders from some fast-talking Judicial.

"I didn't _really_ find it," Jali explained, "but Xhen and I were there when it _was_ found. We were there making enquiries about Vertey, his wife wanted him found. She was quite worried."

"Well, she's just been told and she'll be here in a minute to formerly identify him," Antiene said, she cast her eyes over Vertey's body, her green eyes picking up every detail. She then turned back to Jali. "You haven't heard of Nobu Djuren by any chance, have you?"

"Can't say I have," Jali answered, "what has that got to do with it?"

"It's none of your concern," Antiene said shortly, staring at him in a way that was slightly intimidating. "I'd appreciate it if you dropped this case." Her voice sounded slightly peculiar, but Jali only frowned.

"I still have a client," Jali argued, "and if she's not satisfied with the official story, then she may ask me to find out another."

"Well, it would be better if you desisted in doing so," Antiene said crisply. "Official measures can be taken to prevent you from doing anything."

Jali frowned at her. "I am aware of that," he said in a low voice, "and that's never stopped me before." He nodded to Xhen and they both left.

It was dark when they got outside, the night air was cool and crisp. Jali and Xhen walked along the street looking for an airtaxi.

"Not a bad first day?" Jali laughed.

"Well, I've had better days," Xhen returned with a chuckle, colour was returning to his face. "Just what was _with_ that Laras woman?"

"Don't ask me," Jali said, suddenly thinking of Tira, "sometimes I think that women are half of what makes up dark matter."

"But didn't you see what she was doing?" Xhen pressed. "She was moving her hand while she was talking to you, and looked really crinked off when you said 'No' to her."

"People normally _are_ crinked off when I say 'No' to them," Jali said, finally seeing a cab and hailing it. "And I don't see what her hands have to do with that."

Xhen just laughed as they got in.


	4. Chapter 4

Jali let the speeder drop him off back at Eastport while Xhen went on home; it hadn't been a bad day's work and Jali wanted to make some enquiries on his own

Jali let the speeder drop him off back at Eastport while Xhen went on home; it hadn't been a bad day's work and Jali wanted to make some enquiries on his own. He got out his comlink and entered a code, one of the several that Elya Vertey had provided them with that morning. Soon enough there was an answer.

"Kremoine here."

"Is this Daur Kremoine?" Jali asked.

Kremoine sounded suspicious. "Yeah, what's this all about?"

"I'm investigating Lucen Vertey," Jali told him, "I was wondering if I could have a talk to you."

"Look," Kremoine said angrily, "I've told you Security Force people all that I know, now why don't you—"

"I'm not with the Security Force," Jali interrupted, "Vertey's wife asked me to look into this privately."

Kremoine was silent for a moment. "Did Elya give you my comm code?" he asked finally.

"Yes, I saw her this morning," Jali explained patiently. "Is it fine with you if we have a chat? She gave me your address as well."

Kremoine considered this. "How about we meet at the Idobal in half an hour," he suggested. "Do you know where that is?"

"Yeah, I do," Jali replied. "I'll be there in half an hour."

He put his comlink back in his pocket and went down the street, down several blocks and across the Bridge of Unity before he found the Idobal, a rather flashy tapcaf with a large globe that resembled an eyeball revolving on repulsorlifts next to the door.

It was dark inside; the only light came from the ultraviolet lamps on the tables. The Idobal was close enough to the Docking Facility to attract the workers from there as well as a mixed crowd. He checked his chrono; Kremoine should be by in a few minutes.

Jali sat at the bar and ordered a drink; it wasn't long before a rather tall man wearing a much-patched jacket cautiously approached the bar. He was broadly built with wide shoulders that seemed to want to escape from the seams of his clothing; his hair was closely shaved to his head and his steely blue eyes were peering out from under a heavy brow.

_All in all_, Jali decided as he lit up a cigarette, _he looks like your average thug_.

Drink in hand, he surveyed the bar. "Jali Dawler?"

Jali nodded, putting down the cigarette and offering his hand.

They shook, Kremoine looked cautiously around the room. "Do you mind if we go somewhere more private?" he asked. "I have the feeling that what you're going to ask and what I'm going to answer is something that neither of us want overheard."

"Fine with me," Jali agreed, picking up his cigarette and drink and following Kremoine to a booth at the back of the bar. "I guess you don't subscribe to the theory that Vertey was in some place he shouldn't have and then met someone who didn't like the look of him," he began, inhaling from the cigarette. "Am I right?"

Kremoine nodded, taking a deep draught of his drink and replacing it on the table. "There's something more to it, if you take my meaning."

Jali decided to play dumb for the moment. "Actually, I don't," he said. "I was only brought on to this case as of this morning, and I found Vertey's body less than two hours later. You'll have to connect all the navpoints for me."

"Okay." Kremoine took another swill of his drink and started talking. "Lucen had the idea that certain cargo shipments were leaving Eastport without being checked and that Fenn was somehow in on it."

"Where did he get that idea?" Jali asked.

"Fenn got really farkled about a week ago when Lucen had checked this ship's cargo that Fenn had slapped an exception order on it," Kremoine explained. "Lucen looked into it and thought there must be some mistake as there was no reason for the exception, he checked the cargo and as I said Fenn was really kriffed when he found out. He threatened to take official action for insubordination if it happened again." He took another drink. "So, Lucen mentioned it to me and I suggested there might be something in it, particularly after Fenn practically moved the upper and lower stratosphere to meet this Twi'lek woman. He wasn't particularly happy to see her, either."

Jali gave a wry smile. "You'd think he would be," he said.

Kremoine laughed. "I would've! Lucen heard from Fenn's secretary, he was shouting at her and told her never to show up at his office again."

Jali looked at him curiously. "How do you know all this? Did he share _everything_ with you?"

Kremoine held up his hands in defence. "Hey, hey, I'm just trying to work out what happened to my pal, here."

Jali took a final draw of the cigarette and stubbed it out. "I'm just trying to work out why Vertey ended up killed, knowing all this, and you're still here."

"What?" Kremoine stared at him. "You think _I_ killed him?"

Jali didn't answer.

Kremoine glared at him. "You do, don't you? I really oughta…"

He started to stand up, but Jali was on his feet quickly. "No, no, of course I don't," Jali said in a rush. "I just wanted to check how you would react, that's all."

With a strange glance at Jali, Kremoine sat down again.

"So answer my question," Jali continued, sitting down and lighting another cigarette. "Why do you think Vertey was killed?"

Kremoine shrugged. "I guess he found out too much than what was good for him, but he never let me know what it was."

"You were with him that last night, weren't you?" Jali asked.

"Yeah, I was but not all the time," Kremoine said. "He left here about seventeen ten, and told me not to come with him."

"Did he talk about where he was going?"

"No," Kremoine replied. "But he had a napkin in his hands with something written on it."

Jali stared at him. "Did you see what was written on it?"

Kremoine shook his head. "Nope, he just waved it around and I couldn't catch what it said."

Finally, Jali broached the question he had been meaning to ask all evening. "And what about the Bith and the Twi'lek woman you had a bit of a scrap with? Have they got anything to do with it?"

Kremoine raised his eyebrows. "How did you now about them?"

Jali waved his hand dismissively. "Doesn't matter, what was the story with them?"

"I'm not really sure," Kremoine said, shaking his head. "The Bith seemed to know Lucen, or know his name anyway. I think…" He stopped for a moment, his brow wrinkling in thought. "I think he was giving Lucen some sort of warning, but when I asked Lucen about it he didn't answer."

"And the woman?" Jali asked. "What did she do?"

"She was trying to get the Bith out of there," Kremoine answered, "for some reason, she didn't like him talking to Lucen, but they were only there for a few minutes, left not long after Lucen."

For some reason, those words gave Jali a very bad feeling. He remembered the Bith talking to Xhen last night, and the one he had briefly glimpsed with the crate on the hoversled. Could the Bith have killed Lucen Vertey, carted his body to Eastport and then left it there? Could these two be the same person? No, that was too much of a coincidence.

But there was also the Twi'lek, could this be the same as the one that had so agitated W'kar Fenn by showing up at his office. It was a possibility, but not one that Jali was ready to take seriously yet.

"There's one more thing I'd like to know," Jali said, "it's about those orders you had to search all the cargo, I have the feeling that you don't get 'em everyday."

Kremoine sighed. "I don't know where they came from," he said impatiently, "but it made our day, sure did. It definitely wasn't, Fenn's idea," he added. "He was about as crinked off as the rest of us."

_Could they have come from that Judicial Laras?_ Jali wondered, he knew from his own experiences Judicials _could_ make orders like that. it meant that she was already a step ahead of him, several if you counted the name she had randomly thrown at him.

Kremoine finished his drink. "Anything else you want to know?"

Jali shook his head. "Nothing," he said, "thanks for your help."

"You think you know who did this?" Kremoine asked.

"That's what I'm going to find out," Jali told him

Kremoine left, but Jali stayed at the table deep in thought. It was all starting to look very interesting, as Kremoine had said, there was a lot more to the case than at first glance.

Jali stood up and headed towards the bar, he knew what he had to do next, but there was something he needed to check first. At the bar, he signalled one of the attendants.

"Do you remember a few nights ago when a Bith was having blows with two humans?" Jali asked her. "There was a white Twi'lek woman there as well."

She considered this. "Yeah, I reckon," she said rather impatiently. "They knocked over one of the waitresses and I had to remix a drink for her."

"Did you get any names?" he pressed. "It's important, but it's not the humans I'm interested in."

"I dunno about the Bith's name," she told him after a moment's thought. "But I think he called the Twi'lek woman Trevali."

--

Jali didn't have any appointments until ten, so after assuring Xhen he would be in later he went to an apartment building in the mid-levels of Eastport. He got out of a turbolift on the eleventh floor and knocked on a door with the number thirty-eight emblazoned on it.

Elya Vertey opened it, her eyes were red and puffy. "Oh…ah…Mr Dawler." She examined Jali almost fearfully. "I heard how you found my husband, but perhaps it isn't really necessary…" She cringed and started to shut the door.

Jali put his foot between the door and the doorframe. "There have been a few developments since then," he told her, his voice low and soft, his eyes boring into hers. "I thought that I should share them with you before I do anything else."

Once again, her eyes travelled down Jali's form. "Ah…oh…well…you had better come in then." She opened the door wider and closed it behind Jali.

It was not the first time that Jali had spoken to a widow when he was investigating her husband's death, it had happened several times with the Security Force as well as when he had investigated Tollan's death last year and spoken to his wife Verda the morning after. That was why he hadn't wanted to take Xhen along, there was every chance it could all go wrong with him present.

Elya showed him into a modestly furnished sitting room, and, after declining any refreshments, Jali told her the sum of what he had found last night. For a moment Elya sat there, turning over this information, her eyes still slightly fearful.

"Did you have any idea about this?" Jali asked after a rather long silence.

Elya shook her head. "No, not really, but…" Her voice trailed off and she stared into space. "I do remember Lucen saying things, about how not everyone is honest any more, and something about credits changing hands, but I really wasn't sure what to make of it."

"He probably did that deliberately," Jali suggested gently, "didn't want to get you involved, to get into any danger."

"I suppose so," Elya agreed, her voice shaking slightly. "There's something else I remember, I once suggested that if he didn't like it where he worked that he should try and get another job."

"And what did he say?" Jali asked.

"He didn't want to let those murglaks get away with it," she replied. "It's just…" She took a deep breath and leaned back so her eyes were on the ceiling rather than on Jali. "I can't understand why the Security Force would dismiss something like this, they think that Lucen got waylaid, robbed and hit on the back of the head… but…but…"

Jali proffered a small smile. "You don't think so?"

Elya shook her head, looking as if she was going to cry but seeming to take a hold of herself. "But really, I shouldn't be telling you this, not now anyway." She reached for a purse on the couch. "How much is it that I owe you for that one day?"

"I just want to ask you one question first," Jali asked. "Do you want _me_ to look into this?"

"I…ah…" Elya faltered, but Jali could tell that she did want him to investigate her husband's death and she had brought him into her apartment for that very purpose.

"I can tell you right now," Jali continued, "that there are several avenues of enquiry that I'd like to check out. The Twi'lek woman and her friend, for instance."

"I see," Elya said, her voice measured and controlled. "I'm just wondering about…the…"

"As for fees," he went on as if she hadn't spoken, "I probably would charge a bit more for a murder case, but…" He let the word hang in the air for a moment then made a chopping motion with his hand. "This time I think I can make an exception."

Elya balked at this. "There's no real need to…to…"

"I said it would be no problem," Jali reassured.

"Oh, oh, all right then," Elya said, still a little nervous about all this.

"So we have a deal?" Elya nodded. "Okay, for starters I need to have a look through your husband's personal effects, and there may be a few more questions I need to ask."

"They sent a box with some stuff from his locker," Elya said.

Jali smiled. "Good, then we'll start with that."

Elya brought out a sealed carton and placed it on the low table. Jali removed the lid and examined the contents.

The first item he laid his hands on was a datapad. Jali activated and scanned the data entries, he could see the details of ships that had arrived and what cargo they had carried, but he knew he would have to search for a long time before he could find anything useful. Chances were, the memory banks had been cleaned before the datapad had been given back to Elya, but there still could be something on there.

There were several other items of no consequence. A marker with the word 'Idobal' printed on the side that had a wet nib, but it left no mark when Jali ran it across his hand. There were several memos printed out on flimsies and quite a number of printed receipts. The last one caught Jali's eye, it had a series of words written across it, but he could only make portions of some of them out. _El…t…n, Orve…h, Pr…thiu, S…g, Sk…on, …lium …_ Jali wasn't sure about the others, but the second word looked like orveth to him, which was a gas commonly used in blasters. His own blaster even had a few cartridges.

"Do you mind if I take these?" he asked Elya, showing her the datapad and the receipt.

"Be my guest," she agreed, "anything that can help find out what happened to him."


	5. Chapter 5

There were several appointments waiting for Jali when he arrived at the office, and it was a few hours later when Jali got the chance to examine the datapad more closely

There were several appointments waiting for Jali when he arrived at the office, and it was a few hours later when Jali got the chance to examine the datapad more closely. As he had suspected, anything relating to Lucen Vertey's work had been wiped, all the appointments, contacts and calendar entries. Jali was looking through a set of extended notes that Vertey had written in the weeks prior to his death when there was a knock at the door.

"Do you have a minute?" Xhen Rinner asked.

"Come in, come in," Jali replied, not taking his eyes off the datapad, "I was going to call you over, anyway." For a moment, Jali didn't say anything, he seemed to be coming to some sort of decision.

Finally, he spoke, putting aside the datapad for now. "I know it's only your second day here," he began, "but things have a way of turning out differently than we expect."

Xhen smiled mildly. "Some might say it's the will of the Force," he said.

Jali dismissed it with a wave of a hand. "Whatever, but I'm going to put you on your own on a case sooner than I expected," Jali explained. "A _lot_ sooner," he added, with emphasis.

Xhen glanced at the datapad on Jali's desk. "Let me guess, the Vertey case?" he asked. "I thought it was all over like a dead gundark when we found him."

"So did I," Jali admitted. "But I wasn't satisfied, so I did a little poking around."

Xhen raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment. "And now you think there's something more?"

Jali nodded. "Yeah, but it's a long story," he explained. He gave Xhen a brief outline of his conversation with Kremoine. "So I told I told Elya this, and she wants me to look into it."

"She _asked_ you?" Xhen looked surprised, almost startled, at this revelation.

Jali looked slightly affronted by this. "It's not solicitation, if that's what you mean. People do have a right to have answers when they want them."

"Well, you can't argue with that," Xhen laughed dryly. "So, you were saying?"

"I want you to take over the Lanco case," Jali told him. "It's very straight-forward, just long and involved. I'll get him in tomorrow and you can talk to him yourself. You right with that?"

Xhen shrugged and smiled. "Hey, what's ever fine with you," he agreed. "If you think I'm ready…"

"I reckon you are," Jali said. "And in case you're not, I'll be keeping an eye out anyway."

Xhen laughed again. "You can't help poking around, can you?"

"Bad habit," Jali said with a shrug.

"Could get you into trouble one of these days," Xhen said darkly.

Jali smiled. "Trust me, it has."

--

It took Jali the better part of the afternoon to find something on Vertey's datapad that he could go on, and that was with a visit to a Jenet he knew called Bremen, a slicer who worked near the Column Commons behind the offices of the _Galaxy Star_. Yet the datapad had given him a name, nothing more, but it was still something.

He placed a call to a Zeltron called Miarka, then went back to his apartment for a shower and change of clothes. Barely an hour later, Jali had to find his comlink while clad in his jocks so he could answer it in time, Miarka confirmed the contact had been made and was waiting for him, and within thirty seconds Jali was revving up his speeder bike and on his way to Vos Gesal Street, to the best source of information on Coruscant outside the official channels—the Seventh Star.

"Jali Dawler," Miarka greeted as he approached the bar. "I was beginning to think you were avoiding me."

"It's about what you've done with the place, Miarka," Jali replied, using the same tone of light-sarcasm that she adopted. "It's kinda disturbing, I hardly know it anymore."

Miarka raised her eyebrows. "I thought you liked it, everyone else does."

The Seventh Star had changed since Miarka had bought it off Narks—Jali still had no idea where she had gotten the money, as her wages as a waitress would have been nothing special. The place was cleaned up quite a bit, it was possible to sit down at a table and not have to ask for it to be wiped over before placing one's elbows on it. There was no longer the trade of narcotics and stimulants—at least not officially sponsored by Miarka, but it probably still happened.

Yet there were things that hadn't changed. There was still the protocol of the 'call box' that curtained-off area behind the bar where information was exchanged. Due to this, most of the usual clientele still used the Seventh Star as a base, in spite of the change of ownership. There were still the dancing girls, the weekly cabaret show; even the gaudy stars decoration remained on the wall. Jali always noticed this when he was there as Tira had used the centre star to hide vital information about him.

Jali shrugged. "I just find I have better things to do these days."

Miarka sniffed with mock-disdain. "Top-dwellers, they think they know everything," she spat, "You're starting to act like one, Jali. You can't forget about down here, it's the engine room, everything that moves starts moving in the underlevels."

Jali smiled at her. "How could I forget that?"

After he ordered a drink, Miarka told Jali that his contact was waiting for him.

"Why didn't you tell me when I came in?" Jali asked.

"Looked a bit nervous," Miarka told him. "I wanted him nice and settled before you stomped all over him."

Jali gave her a long look. "Really Miarka, how do you know I won't be gentle?"

She was still laughing when Jali had entered the callbox and closed the curtain behind him.

Inside, sitting at the table, was his contact, Nobu Djuren. That Judicial, Laras or whatever her name was, had mentioned his name and it had appeared on Vertey's datapad, that was enough reason in Jali's mind to check it out.

Nobu was a Bith, with the triangle-shaped head, wet-black eyes and wrinkled face characteristic of his species. He also looked slightly worried, he had half-risen from a sitting position when Jali had entered.

"Jali Dawler?" His voice was just audible, why did this guy seem afraid of him?

Jali stared. "Hey, how do you know who I am?"

Nobu shrugged. "_He_ told me you'd be sniffing around, if you know what's good for you you'd butt out."

"I can take care of myself, thanks," Jali answered shortly.

Nobu stood, and probably would have walked out if Jali hadn't caught him by the shoulder. "Going somewhere?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm going away," Nobu told him. "It's worth more than my life to talk to you."

Nobu tried to fight, but Jali pinned him to the wall so he couldn't escape. "I'll make it worth your while if you give me some answers," Jali said. "Give me five minutes, and if you play nice then you can go on home."

He slowly released him and Nobu sat down. Jali sat on the chair across from him, keeping his hands under the table to make the Bith feel on edge.

"For starters," Jali said, licking his lips, "you can tell me who told you to avoid me."

"That's easy enough, it was a friend of yours," Nobu answered, "Nuada Vekstar, he sends his regards."

Jali glowered, that was one avenue blown. "Tell him he can keep his regards to himself."

"Why don't _you_ tell him that?" Nobu asked. "If you keep doing what you're doing, he might have to make a house call."

"I can do without that sort of disturbance," Jali said. The _last_ thing he wanted to do was renew his acquaintance with that thug of a Miralukan. But still, the fact that Nuada was doing the threatening, even behind an underling such as Nobu, was pretty good information. It meant that the Silver Ring, the large criminal organisation that he had tangled with last year, was behind Vertey's death and whatever was happening at Eastport.

"Maybe we better start from the beginning," Jali suggested. "What's your part in this operation to make the authorities so interested?"

Nobu looked panicked. "Authorities?" His voice had risen several octaves.

Jali ignored this outburst. "Just answer the question."

"I supervise the shipments coming into Eastport," Nobu explained. "I get told when the next one is coming, get to the right docking bay and make sure everything goes right. Then I give out a few considerations, so the right people look the other way."

"Right people?" Jali repeated. "Like W'kar Fenn?"

Nobu nodded. "He's the main one, but there are others that have a stake in it that have to be included."

"Who are they?" Jali asked.

"I dunno," the Bith admitted. "I just meet their agents, and some of them keep changing. I couldn't tell you who they work for."

"Is Trevali one of them?" Jali asked. It was a stab in the dark, but the incredulous look on Nobu's face told Jali he had hit home.

"Who told you that?" Nobu spat, starting to rise from his seat again. "I've told you far too much, I…"

Jali put a hand on Nobu's shoulder and with his other hand got out his blaster. "I thought we could do this nice and polite," Jali said in a calm, measured voice. "Looks like I was wrong."

Nobu's mouth opened and closed like a gulping fish. "You wouldn't…"

Jali brought his face close. "You want to call that bluff?" He whispered. "The only thing Miarka won't like is that I messed up her parlour."

The Bith looked down the barrel of the blaster. "All right…I'll talk," he decided. "Yes, Trevali is one of the agents, but don't ask me who she works for as I don't know."

"So what's in these shipments?" Jali asked, settling back in his chair but keeping the blaster on Nobu. From that receipt he had found in Vertey's belongings, Jali could make a pretty good guess about what was being imported.

"I have no idea," Nobu confessed. "I'm just the middle-man, the fall-guy, the blind-eyed, half-stupid nerf-herder, you know how it is. No one tells me anything."

"So what do _you_ get out of all this?" Jali demanded.

Nobu shrugged. "I get paid to make sure everything goes to plan, and a little more now and then to keep my mouth shut."

"Who pays _you_ then?" Jali asked. "Vekstar?" Nobu nodded. "Figures, he likes front-runners to do his dirty work for him. Tell me about Vertey, apparently you and him had some sort of disagreement."

Nobu did the Bith equivalent of rolling his eyes, which was tapping his nose with his index finger several times. "He's a _claucher_, that's what." Jali had no idea what a 'claucher' was, but guessed it was not something that he wanted to be. "He found out that I was handling the payments and he threatened me." He looked up at Jali. "I had to do something."

"I hear Trevali wasn't pleased about seeing him," Jali commented.

"Well I don't know about that either," Nobu replied with another shrug.

"So who killed Vertey?" Jali asked.

"What makes you think I know anything about that?" Nobu asked.

Jali counted off the reasons on his fingers. "You were one of the last people who saw him alive, you had an argument with him and you were employed by people who saw him as a danger." Jali smiled. "That's three very good reasons why you're a suspect, and I can think of another."

Nobu almost laughed. "What?"

"I saw you hiding his body the day we found him," Jali said.

Nobu was _really _laughing now. "Oh, stuff another limpet up there," he said when he had recovered himself, "how are you going to prove a load of choobies like that?"

"I don't have to," Jali replied, "are you going to tell me that I'm right or that I'm wrong?"

"You're wrong," Nobu spat. "I didn't kill Vertey, and if you're smart you won't find out who _did_ kill him."

"You mind your business, I'll mind mine," Jali shot back.

"Chaos take you, then." Nobu tapped his nose again. "Can I go now? I've told you everything I know."

"There's still one thing," Jali said. "When's the next shipment coming in?"

"Tonight," Nobu said, when the blaster edged closer he spoke again. "The _Shadowfire_, bay 3FA-371, seventeen-oh-four."

Jali checked the chrono on his wrist. "Well, what do you know, that's an hour from now. How 'bout we go together?"

Nobu swallowed nervously. "That might be a bad idea."

"I think it's an _excellent_ idea," said Jali.

"But you said I could go when you finished with me," the Bith whined.

"I changed my mind," Jali said, gesturing with his blaster. "Get up, and I hope you don't mind riding on the back of a speeder bike."

"I _do_ mind," Nobu protested.

"That's just too bad, then," Jali replied.


	6. Chapter 6

When Jali entered Eastport with Nobu close beside him, he noticed a parked airspeeder stationed right outside the entrance to the Docking Facility

When Jali entered Eastport with Nobu close beside him, he noticed a parked airspeeder stationed right outside the entrance to the Docking Facility. Jali had never written a parking ticket in his life, but he knew it was illegal to leave your vehicle there. The door slid open and a blonde-haired woman wearing a tailored black coat emerged.

_Typical_, Jali though, looking over his shoulder as she passed them, _Judicials, they think they own everything._ Antiene Laras did not look back.

It was early evening, and while it was not crowded as it usually was during the day, there were still quite a number of people around. Nobu seemed to know where he was going, he went straight to a turbolift and pressed the button for the freighter level. He looked at Jali.

"You'll have to make yourself scarce," the Bith said. "If I'm seen with you, it'll come off worse for both of us."

"I understand," Jali said. "But this better not be a wild bantha chase."

"It's not," Nobu reassured as the doors opened.

The bay they were after was about half-way along the level, Nobu walked on ahead with Jali trailing behind. He let a few people walk in front of him so it didn't look like Jali was following him. Jali could see the door to the docking bay just ahead; no one was standing outside it.

Which was why it was suck a complete and utter shock when Nobu was shot.

Jali never saw the blaster bolt, it must have hit Nobu directly in the chest for the next moment he was collapsed on the ground. The only warning was the sound of the explosion and the smell of ozone.

There were several screams, but Jali's reflexes, long-honed in his days as a Security Officer, went into overdrive. He slid down to one knee and rolled over until he was behind a pile of empty crates, removing his blaster from the holster as he rolled.

"Everybody down!" he shouted, yet hardly anyone listened. There were screams, people running and cowering behind whatever they could use as a barricade. Jali looked around frantically, whoever had fired that shot, had to have been at very close range to have got a hit so accurately because, as far as Jali could see, there were no places near by for a sharpshooter to lie in wait for them.

"Who fired that shot?" Jali shouted. "Has anyone seen them?" Without waiting for an answer, Jali vaulted the crates and ran in the direction the shot had come.

"There he is!" A woman pointed to a departing figure with a trembling finger. Jali thanked her with a wave and ran after them. Whoever they were, they sure could run! Jali had to struggle to keep whoever it was in sight, picking out the black coat of his quarry when he though he had lost them. He followed the figure through a service entrance, down a flight of stairs and through three sets of doors to a room with a parts and machinery scattered around, Jali could hear the distant rumble of an engine fading away. The figure stood in shadow, watching something through the large open door to outside.

Jali didn't stop find out who this was, he merely fired. The shots were designed to disable rather than kill but the figure whirled around to face him, taking a metal cylinder from inside the black coat that extended a shimmering blue blade from the end. The blade parried his shots so they landed harmlessly either side. The figure waved a hand and Jali's blaster fell out of his hand.

Jali stared. _A Jedi?_ But he still couldn't see who it was. Finally, the figure stepped into the light.

It was Antiene Laras, the woman he had met last night at Security Force Headquarters and had told him to abandon the case. And she was annoyed.

"Thanks a lot, Dawler," she spat. "You blew my cover."

She stalked away, leaving him rooted to the spot.

--

Even with Nobu gone, the case still wasn't over. Jali planned to talk to W'kar Fenn as soon as he could and get the whole story, maybe even enough to interest Pallavi. The Next morning he was finishing a few routine matters in his office when Ayan's worried face peered around the door.

"Mr Dawler," she murmured, "I have Ms. Vertey on the line, and she sounds rather distressed."

Jali frowned at her. "Why didn't you just put her on?" he asked.

She scowled back. "I was," she countered, "but you said you were soon on your way out."

Jali held back the desire to roll his eyes; sometimes the female Zabrak could be a little _too_ diligent.

"All right, all right," he said, "put her on, I'll try and sort out whatever her new worry is."

Ayan left the room as Jali picked up the handset, within a few seconds there was a crackle and the sound of a 'distressed' female voice.

Jali used his most gentle tones. "Ms. Vertey I…" But he was immediately cut off by Elya's exasperated gasps.

"Please, don't…I won't…help." There was a muffled gurgling sound. Jali took the handset away from his ear for a moment and stared at it.

"I'll try and help you," he said slowly and patiently, "but you'll have to…"

"Don't…I won't," she rasped. "Please…help."

Jali tried to talk to her, but she just kept repeating her fragmented plea. Xhen walked into the room with some files that Jali had lent him and made as if to leave but Jali held up a hand.

The plea continued using the same words, and despite her obvious panic, Jali thought there was something decidedly _odd _about what she said. Finally, there was a loud gasp, another crackle and the 'link fell silent. Jali shivered, the silence disturbed him more than Elya's partial message. "Stay where you are," he told her, hoping to hell that she heard him. He dropped the comlink and rushed out the door.

"What's going on?" Xhen asked, dropping the files on Ayan's desk as he followed Jali.

"I thought this would happen, but not so soon," he said, frantically pressing the turbolift button in a vain effort to make it come faster. "I've been a real idiot, not telling her…not warning her of the danger…"

Xhen looked confused. "Who? What are you talking about?"

The turbolift arrived and Jali got in. "Elya Vertey," Jali answered. "The call was from her, she's in some sort of trouble."

Xhen thought quickly. "We can take my speeder," he suggested, then stepped in next to Jali.

--

Jali leant on the chime and pounded on the door, but there was no answer.

"This isn't good," he said to Xhen, "we just _have_ to get in."

Xhen considered. "There was some sort of caretaker on the fortieth floor," he said.

"Go there." Xhen ran off and Jali took several items from his jacket pocket. He opened the locking panel to reveal the circuitry and after a moment's inspection severed two of them with a tool. Jali then connected a wire he had taken from his pocket to the frayed ends then gave the lock a small burst of power from a small powercell.

Nothing happened, but that simply meant there was a fail-safe mechanism built into it to guard against intruders. Jali removed his wire and re-connected the lock.

He was just closing the panel when he heard the sound of footsteps, Jali turned, but it was only Xhen and the caretaker.

"The lady called you, did she?" He was a squat Sullustan that spoke a whistling form of Basic.

"Yeah," Jali said, "and we need to hurry, she might be…"

"No problem, just needed to check." He keyed in an access override code and the door slid open.

The three of them entered the room, it was empty and a breeze was blowing in from a wide-open window on the far wall. Jali did a quick scan of the room, everything appeared strangely normal.

"I don't like this," said Jali in a low voice. "Check the bedroom, everywhere Xhen."

Xhen made for the bedroom, but for some reason stopped by the open window. He looked down then looked back up at Jali, his face was white.

"Jali." Xhen's voice was rather weak. "I think you better come look at this."

Jali and the caretaker walked over to the window and looked down. It was Elya, she was lying several floors below on a narrow ledge clad only in her nightgown.

--

"This is starting to look like a familiar situation, Dawler," Vantel said. "You just happen to find victims for us, don't you?"

Vantel and quite a few others had arrived in response to Jali's call. Some of them were dealing with Elya's body and processing the crime scene. Pallavi Dashiell and some other officers were talking to the caretaker and the neighbours. Vantel, however, had reserved Jali and Xhen for himself.

Jali smiled. "Oh, I don't know," he returned, matching barb for barb with Vantel. "They seem to just _happen_ to find me, don't they?"

Vantel ignored this. "So, I've been told you were witnesses," he said, adopting his official tone of voice and addressing both of them. "What kind of story can you tell me about this?"

Jali explained Elya's call to his office.

"And what time was this?" he asked.

"About eleven, I think," Jali answered.

"Eleven twelve," Xhen added. "I looked at my chrono as I heard the comlink sound in Ayan's office; I was expecting a call at that time."

Vantel noted this. "And your first reaction was to come here?"

Jali nodded. "I wasn't sure what was happening, and it seemed the best thing to do."

"You were afraid that she might do something to herself?" Vantel pressed. "Harm herself in a way?"

Jali shook his head, to treat Elya's death as a suicide seemed an insult to her memory, yet Vantel _would_ be the one to do that. "No," he answered. "I was afraid someone was doing something _to_ her. In my experience, people about to jump out windows don't make calls, they leave notes."

Vantel ignored Jali's sarcasm. "And what time did you arrive?"

Jali shrugged. "I don't know," Jali answered. "It takes about ten minutes to get to this part of Eastport from my office, though."

"And then what happened?" Vantel asked.

"There wasn't any answer at the door, and I was worried," Jali told him. "So I told Xhen to get someone and I tried to break in." He paused then added as Vantel opened his mouth. "It didn't work, the caretaker let us in."

"And that's just about it," Xhen said, obviously wanting the conversation to end.

Vantel pocketed his datapad. "I assume you'll want to come down to headquarters, Dawler?"

"I thought that I was officially told to get off this case," Jali reminded him.

"Bah, you never let that stop you," Vantel spat. "We'll take your statement, but that's it."

--

The formal interviews were over quicker than even Jali had anticipated. Before long Vantel was escorting them towards the door with a self-satisfied expression.

"If I were you, Dawler, I would stop finding excuses to come down here," Vantel suggested.

"Well that's if you call murder victims excuses," Jali said lightly.

"This isn't a homicide," Vantel insisted. "Get _that_ through that durasteel head of yours."

"You can't be sure yet," Jali reminded him. "Fortunately for you," he continued, "this last death's done me out of a client. I doubt it'll matter much to anyone anymore what I turn up."

Vantel stopped and stared at him. "So you're just going to walk away like that?"

Jali nodded. "Just like that."

Vantel scowled. "And I thought I knew you."

"So you did," Jali retorted, he pushed the doors open and they walked outside.

"What the hell was that about?" Xhen demanded

"_That_," Jali told him with a sly smile, "is how you get guys like Vantel off your back."

"So you're still sticking with the case after all?" Xhen looked surprised. "She killed herself, that much is obvious."

"I never trust the obvious," Jali told him. "And I'm not going to give this up." He turned to Xhen who was still astonished. "You still look like a randu caught in some headlights," he joked. "I'll call Pallavi later," he told Xhen, "she'll get an update on what the medicos turn up." He lit a cigarette as they walked. "It saves me going back there and getting Vantel mad all over again."

"And now?" Xhen prompted, still looking doubtful.

"And now," Jali repeated, smoke escaping from his mouth as he spoke "we go and talk to W'kar Fenn, which I was _going_ to do anyway."


	7. Chapter 7

But Fenn wasn't there, either at work or at his apartment when they managed to get the address out of his receptionist

But Fenn wasn't there, either at work or at his apartment when they managed to get the address out of his receptionist. So there was little choice but to return to the office and consider their options. Yet to Jali's surprise, there was someone waiting for them, a tall blonde-haired young woman wearing a belted blue coat. Xhen quietly excused himself as she walked up to Jali.

"Well, well," Jali teased, crossing his arms over his chest and giving her a long look, "if it isn't the lovely Master Laras."

Antiene folded her arms and stared right back at him. "Nice try to be suave, Dawler, but that sort of thing doesn't work on me."

"Well, _that_," he waved his right hand about as he spoke, "sort of thing doesn't work on me."

She gave him half a smile. "When did you figure it out that I was trying to mind-trick you?"

Jali shrugged. "Oh, about five seconds ago," he admitted. "So, why have you come here? Didn't Vantel tell you the latest?"

The Jedi's face was expressionless. "I heard what happened this morning."

Jali tilted his head to one side. "But why come here after you officially told me to keep my hands off the case?"

"New developments," she answered. "There's some things I need to talk to you about."

Jali gestured to the door behind them. "Well, we'll go into my office then."

She shook her head. "No, not here."

For a moment Jali said nothing. "Fine, we'll get something to eat then, I was hungry."

--

Normally, Jali would consider taking a woman to a restaurant qualified as a date. Yet this was clearly an exception. Jali didn't know much about the Jedi more than what was generally known. He knew about the lightsabers, about the mysterious power they called the Force that made them do impossible things, and the fact they pretty much kept to themselves. In his time at the Security Force he had seen them once or twice, but that was about it. Jali always imagined they would be have far more showy and exciting ways of dispensing justice than the far more pedestrian mechanics of the law.

He told this to Antiene as they passed the Column Commons. She smiled and shook her head.

"They would like you to think that," she said, nodding to the media offices they passed. "Somehow more regular things don't grab the headlines. Like searching through a garbage scow in the dead of night, or taking the droid's entrance to a collapsed building."

"But I've still gotta say," Jali admitted, "what you do, it _is_ rather impressive."

"These days it's little different to what you do, Dawler," Antiene replied.

"I've noticed," Jali said, "and I'm still waiting to hear that story."

"Keep waiting then," she told him.

They went to Blackbird's, a modest establishment that Jali had found almost by accident. It was small, rather stuffy inside but the food was good, didn't mind if you smoked and the staff didn't ask any questions. Which was why Jali had chosen it.

All the same, Antiene looked around for a few minutes after they sat down.

"I know it's not the Manarai," he said, feeling kind of anxious how she seemed to be always on alert, "but it isn't bad here."

Antiene picked up the menu. "I've been to the Manarai, it's overrated."

Jali swallowed uncomfortably. "Well, if you've _been_ there."

The conversation didn't really start until they had ordered, when the droid waiter had gone back to the kitchen Antiene removed a print out from her pocket and placed it in front of Jali.

"There," she said, "that's pretty much why I came to see you."

It was taken from a HoloNet news broadcast detailing the incident last night at Eastport where Nobu Djuren had been shot. A lump of guilt appeared in Jali's throat as he read, then reread the article. He put it down and frowned at Antiene.

"I don't see anything here that I don't know already," Jali told her, lighting up a cigarette, "unless you mean those politicians who complain about the so-called lack of security."

"Like Senator Stoll of Vergoda?" Antiene asked.

The name was familiar. "What about him?"

She glanced at a chrono on the wall. "This morning, he complained to the Senate about the Jedi investigating minor security issues that were better suited to those more…dispensable." She shrugged. "An hour later, I was taken off the case indefinitely."

"By who?" Jali asked, drawing on the cigarette.

"The Jedi Council," Antiene replied. "It's just until this whole thing cools down. And that's where you can help me out."

Jali stared at her, the cigarette almost falling from his hand. "Excuse me?"

Antiene spoke in a low voice. "I want you to continue this for me, I got to a critical point and if I stop now it will all have been for nothing."

Jali wasn't sure if he could believe this, he rested the cigarette on the ashtray. "You want_ me_ to pick up where _you_ left off? _Me_ have _you_ as my client?"

The Jedi didn't bat an eye. "You'll be well-paid," she assured.

"I wasn't doubting that," Jali said, shaking his head. "It just strikes me as very strange that a Jedi would ask for help."

"Jedi ask for help," Antiene assured him, "just not as often as everyone else. So what do you say?"

Jali considered this, picking up the cigarette. "You are going to tell me the whole story, aren't you? From the beginning?"

"Once you agree to it, yes," Antiene replied.

"And what's your level of involvement going to be?" Jali asked. "You already know I don't take kindly to being bossed around."

"I realise that," Antiene admitted. "And my role will be minimal, unless you _want_ my help?"

This amused Jali, how many people did he know could call on their own personal Jedi?

"All right, I'll take it," he said, he put the cigarette down and offered his hand to her; the agreement was made. "Now, start talking," picking up the cigarette again and inhaling deeply. "We can start with Elya Vertey's death, as I don't know anything about that."

"It wasn't a suicide, as you may have suspected," Antiene answered, "she had a toxic gas thrust under her nose and she died instantly." She looked up at Jali. "The whole out-the-window thing was just a ruse to make it look like she killed herself."

"It wasn't very well-done, then," Jali noted.

"No, it wasn't," Antiene agreed, "whoever carried it out wasn't some professional, not someone used to killing, anyway. In fact," she added, "the only foresight they _did_ have was making that recorded call to get you over there. Elya couldn't have made that call, she was dead by then.

"I should have warned her, though," Jali said, more to himself that to Antiene. "I should have expected it." He went over the details in his mind, finishing off the cigarette. "Have you seen security records from the time?"

"The cameras were playing up and the images blurry and distorted," Antiene answered with a dry smile. "It's hard to tell if someone is Hutt or Human, so there's no help there."

"And what was it that killed her?" Jali asked. "Is it hard to get?"

Antiene smiled grimly. "Not really," she said. "It's just Tolium gas, the same kind used in blasters, they just had an open cartridge of it and thrust it right under her nose. Death only took a few seconds."

Jali took a breath, trying to forget about Elya's death for the moment. "So," he said at last, "where do you fit in with all of this?"

"It started about a year ago," she said. "I was investigating a pirate gang called the Alects operating out of the Mid-Rim," she explained, "once they were gone, I started tracking their weapons-suppliers and traced them to the Prackla Sector, but the shipments were coming from Coruscant." She looked at him. "When I finally found the source of the shipments, they had a diplomatic immunity stamped on them, so instead of wasting time trying to get them searched I looked for the where the gas was coming in."

"Did you find them?" Jali asked.

"No, and I was about to when you came blustering in and fragged up everything," she said, giving Jali a smile as she spoke. "Nobu told me about the blaster gas shipments coming in through Eastport, and I wanted to track them to the actual factory." She smiled. "I knew from there I could get the supplier.

"So," Jali said after a moment's thought, remembering that receipt he had found, "that was what Vertey stumbled on."

Antiene nodded. "Here's something else you might be interested in." She passed him a flimsy, it was a picture of a cocktail napkin. In the corner there was the name and the address of the Idobal. But on the napkin, were two lines of writing. The first line read, '_Black Prince_, Eastport, Level 4, Bay 321-F75, 17:30' and a date of a few days previously. On the next line were the words, '_Shadowfire_, Eastport, Level 4, Bay 28-E71, 17:04' and a date of a few days later.

Jali looked at her. "This was in Vertey's pocket, wasn't it?"

She nodded again.

Jali frowned. "But I didn't see any writing on it."

Antiene raised her eyebrows. "You didn't look at it under ultraviolet light, did you now? Didn't you notice that in the Idobal?"

Jali laughed. "I should have," he said. "So Vertey was planning to do something? To go there or go to the authorities. Hang on," he looked at the picture. "That date, it's the same, and the time, seventeen-thirty twenty minutes after he's been confirmed seeing leaving the Idobal, I'd like to think Vertey was planning to go there _that night_."

"But did he _get_ there?" Antiene asked. "That's the question I've been trying to answer."

"Either, he was seen at Eastport and that's where it happened," said Jali, thinking aloud. "Or, more likely, he was stopped on the way there. And if Nobu and Trevali put out the word that he knew…" Jali knew he hadn't needed to continue the sentence, Nuada's people could move very swiftly if there was a need.

"I hardly think it happened at Eastport," Antiene said gently. "It's too crowded, far too many people."

"You're assuming it happened out in the open," Jali reminded her. "I'd still like to know how he found out about those particular shipments."

"It's hardly likely," said the Jedi Knight. "Anyway, Vertey couldn't have told anyone else or the second shipment wouldn't have gone ahead." She paused for a moment, reflecting. "But I'm not surprised at him wanting to stop them. Some of that stuff they were getting is pretty bad."

"But it's just blaster gas," Jali objected, "it's bad, bad that weapons are being made illegally, but nothing to make you get up and dance with a Hutt."

Antiene smiled wryly. "Have you heard of sig?"

Jali cockily raised an eyebrow. "Should I have?"

She ignored his sarcasm. "Sig is a gas that the Republic has been trying to ban ever since it came on the market," she explained. "The Alects had it, and that was why they were such a problem. I reckon it could even burn through Mandalorian iron."

Jali had no idea what Mandalorian iron was, but didn't bother to ask. "So, if they're still shipping the gas in, they're still making weapons, and they're still supplying pirate groups."

"More than pirate groups," Antiene said. "Quite a lot of planetary security bodies are getting them. There's probably more, but I didn't have time to look further. And that's not everything," she added, "there's someone else behind the whole operation I haven't been able to find yet."

"Let me guess," Jali broke in, "the Silver Ring."

"You know more than I gave you credit for," Antiene said.

"It's not much, I've had dealings with them before," Jali told her.

"I heard," Antiene replied just as the waiter came back with their food.

"So how much do you know that I don't?" Jali asked when he had left.. "All I've met is Nuada Vekstar, unless you count the people he hires."

"I don't consider them part of the organisation," Antiene said dismissively, "but that's how he operates, and it's so no one finds out who really is controlling things at the centre."

"That's a bit unusual," Jali said as he applied a liberal coating of pepper to his meal. He knew from his experiences that while crime bosses didn't exactly dine on their reputations, they were well-known even if only for their notoriety.

"And that's why it works so well," Antiene said, "with someone like Vekstar as the front man, whoever's is behind him must be pretty bad."

"But you've found that out, haven't you?" Jali smiled, cutting in to his manatee steak.

Antiene looked at him, annoyed. "How did you know that?"

Jali shrugged. "You wouldn't be talking about it if you didn't already know."

Antiene rolled her eyes. "All right, I did find out." She speared some of her salad with her fork. "I got a name, not that it means anything."

"I know exactly what you mean," Jali agreed. "So what is the name?" He put a small portion of the steak in his mouth.

She made a face that had nothing to do with the salad she had just consumed. "Aurek."

Jali blinked. "What sort of name is that?" He asked between mouthfuls. "I could have come up with a better one in ten seconds."

"I'll bet," she answered skeptically, picking up some more of he salad, "and the only thing that the name tells me is that it's another front, someone who doesn't want to be known for one reason or another."

"Such as a well-known person?" Jali suggested, cutting another piece of his steak off.

"Trust me, a well-known person would be much easier to imitate, providing of course you could find a way to scam the voiceprint and biometric recognitions," she answered dryly. "This 'Aurek', whoever he is, is probably someone who no one knows at all."

"They may not even exist," Jali pointed out, when the Jedi gave him a confused look Jali hastened to explain. "Listen," he said, putting down his knife and fork, "it's the perfect scenario, a leader who no one sees but everyone gets orders from. They never die, but because they're never really there, the front is all there is."

Antiene considered this, chewing thoughtfully. "That's an interesting proposition," she said finally. "But it doesn't help at the moment when all we have is a name."

"True," agreed Jali, picking up his knife and fork and attacking his steak again. "You were talking about the weapons shipments, weren't you?" He put another forkful of manatee in his mouth.

"I was still looking for a way to track the gas to where the weapons were made," she continued, playing with the food on her plate, "and then Vertey was killed. Following that, one by one the contacts I tried to make were eliminated."

"What about Fenn?" Jali asked. "I asked about him right after I left Vantel this morning, but no one had seen him."

"Well I don't know where he is either," Antiene replied. "Maybe his absence tells us a lot more than when he's actually there. So really," she finished, "you either have to find the factory yourself, or someone who can lead you to it. I've exhausted all my contacts, do you know anyone?"

_So_ that's_ why she came to me_, Jali realised, she simply didn't know who to turn to next. But then again, neither did he. However…

"There is someone else I'd like to find," Jali said, pushing a bit of steak around his plate to soak up the creamy sauce, "a white Twi'lek named Trevali. Apparently, she had something to do with the payments to Fenn."

"You know how to find her?" Antiene asked, a portion of green and red half-way to her mouth.

"No," Jali admitted, wondering why he hadn't considered it before, "but I _do_ know someone who does."


	8. Chapter 8

All the next morning, Jali was hanging out for Tira's promised message from Trevali

All the next morning, Jali was hanging out for Tira's promised message from Trevali. He hadn't been able to get any work done and so had sent the new client that had come along to Xhen. Jali's nerves were wired to the highest pitch and he had paced his office until he was sure he had left a trail of wear in the carpet.

When she had said that the Twi'lek would find him, she didn't specify how this would happen. Jali had assumed it would be some sort of call, or perhaps a note and the promise of a rendezvous. What he _hadn't_ expected was the package that had arrived when he usually would be having lunch. It was a large flat black box tied with a big red bow, Jali looked at it suspiciously and called Xhen in.

"What do you think?" Jali asked, not taking his eyes off it.

Xhen looked from the package to Jali and then back at the package. "What?" he shrugged "Is it your name day and I missed it?"

Jali didn't laugh. This could be the message from Tira, but for all he knew it could be a bomb.

Xhen looked suddenly startled. "Hey," he said rather nervously, "this doesn't have anything to do with that…that Twi'lek woman, does it?"

Jali looked up at Xhen. "It's interesting you say that."

Xhen raised his eyebrows. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Jali shrugged. "Nothing," he answered, "it's just interesting." He leaned over to pull the bow to open the package put Xhen put a hand on his arm to prevent him. "What?"

Xhen's face started to go red. "It's just that…you…you should be careful…you know."

Jali frowned. "Haven't you learned by now that there's no use in telling me to be careful? Besides," he added, mischievously lifting his eyebrows. "If this box is set to explode, it'll take out both of us as well as Ayan."

"I figured that," Xhen said, his hand still on Jali's arm.

"I thought you might," Jali said, shrugging off Xhen's grip and pulling the ribbon.

Xhen instinctively shrank back, curling up into a ball next to the wall, covering his hands for his ears and squinting his eyes shut in preparation for what he assumed to be the inevitable explosion.

But nothing happened.

Cautiously, Xhen opened his eyes. Jali was holding what seemed to be a white index card.

"What's that?" Xhen asked. "Another bomb?"

Jali smiled as he read it. "Maybe," he conceded, "but apparently I've been invited for a night of 'exceptional entertainment' at Luba Luft's."

--

Luba Luft's was a gaudy, flashy strip-joint on Vos Gesal Street that Jali had had the good fortune not to need to enter until that evening. He had heard rumours, of course, about what trade they did on the side, but whoever owned the place had either enough money or enough connections—or both, as Jali personally thought—to escape even the occasional Security Force raid.

Of course, there was a long line of males at the door with their pleas to enter the club stopped by an uncompromising Echani bouncer. Yet when Jali had given him the invitation—engraved on ivory he believed—the bouncer unhesitatingly lifted the velvet rope and let Jali in with a polite, "Have an nice evening, sir,".

The card had given specific instructions to go to certain door at the back of the club—the only real door next to a row of fake ones—and show the card again to the man who was waiting there, who looked rather like the Echani bouncer's big brother.

"Door right at the end of the corridor," he told Jali, pocketing the card and turning away from him.

Jali walked the length of the corridor, beneath the red lights that were fastened to the ceiling. Either side of him were closed doors, and from the sounds coming from some of them Jali didn't have to stretch his imagination too far to work out what was going on inside. He finally came to the last door and knocked tentatively. He still wasn't sure what he was letting himself in for.

The door slowly opened, a white-skinned Twi'lek stood on the other side.

"Jali Dawler," she murmured, "it's about time you showed up."

Trevali's white skin was tinged slightly by the overhead lights and she wore a transparent black dress that floated about her ankles. Her red-painted lips were inclined in the form of a smile, her teeth were white and pointed.

"Trevali?" Jali asked uncertainly.

The Twi'lek inclined her head in ascent and grabbed his arm. "Come inside," she whispered, enveloping Jali in an exotic scent as she pulled him in and shut the door.

Jali smiled hesitantly, but didn't resist her grip. He let her lead him to a long chaise lounge covered in leather. She sat opposite him in a matching armchair.

Whatever he was here for, Jali was _definitely_ not planning on being seduced. But for some reason, Trevali knew this even though everything about her and where she they were screamed otherwise.

If Trevali had ulterior motives, she would have made them apparent early on, just as Jali would have made it early on that he wouldn't have been interested. Instead, Trevali looked at him without any emotion.

"I can tell you're just about scared witless by being here," she said in a business-like way, "so I'll get to the point. Basically, I didn't have to meet you, but I chose to."

Jali was confused. "Why?"

"I talked to Tira," Trevali said, "and I decided to help you out, even if it means telling you nothing at all."

"So why go to all this trouble?" he asked.

"Someone needs to put you wise about what's going on," she replied, "and I thought I should do that, before you get your head blown off that is."

Jali smiled. "If you made me come all this way to tell me I'm in imminent danger, I could have saved you the trouble." He pulled out his cigarettes. "Do you mind?" he asked.

Trevali shook her head. "Go ahead," she said. "Just don't let it get on the couch."

The cigarette lit and firmly between his fingers, Jali spoke again. "The Silver Ring's been onto me since I arrested Senix Breen all those years ago," he told her. "They tried to get me before, but it was Tira who stopped them, now I don't have that advantage." He took a deep inhale. "I'm surprised you haven't taken a shot at me yet."

Trevali smiled. "Trust me, as much as I'd like to, you're probably not worth it."

"Nuada might disagree," Jali countered gently.

"Nuada's not the one calling the shots this time," Trevali replied.

"I see," Jali said with a nod. "Aurek."

She smiled again. "So someone _has_ put you wise."

"They have," he conceded. "Just not as much as I'd like."

"Well here's a bit more," Trevali said. "I'd say in about five hours from now someone calling themselves a friend of yours is going to be worth as much as a broken umbrella in a Ryloth storm."

Jali took this as calmly as he could, drawing on his cigarette "So they _have_ decided to do something."

The Twi'lek nodded. "_Unless_…" She held up a finger. "You beat them to it."

Jali stared. "What? Eat a blaster before I go to bed?"

Trevali ignored this. "There's someone else you need to talk to," she told him. "Someone you know…or rather, someone you _thought_ you knew."

"Nuada or Aurek's planted someone on me?" Jali asked.

Trevali didn't reply.

"Why are you telling me this?" Jali asked her.

"There's still time for you to get out of this, Jali," she said. "But I'm not really sure if you want to do that."

-- end of chapter 9 – let them work it out


	9. Chapter 9

All the next morning, Jali was hanging out for Tira's promised message from Trevali

All the next morning, Jali was hanging out for Tira's promised message from Trevali. He hadn't been able to get any work done and so had sent the new client that had come along to Xhen. Jali's nerves were wired to the highest pitch and he had paced his office until he was sure he had left a trail of wear in the carpet.

When she had said that the Twi'lek would find him, she didn't specify how this would happen. Jali had assumed it would be some sort of call, or perhaps a note and the promise of a rendezvous. What he _hadn't_ expected was the package that had arrived when he usually would be having lunch. It was a large flat black box tied with a big red bow, Jali looked at it suspiciously and called Xhen in.

"What do you think?" Jali asked, not taking his eyes off it.

Xhen looked from the package to Jali and then back at the package. "What?" he shrugged "Is it your name day and I missed it?"

Jali didn't laugh. This could be the message from Tira, but for all he knew it could be a bomb.

Xhen looked suddenly startled. "Hey," he said rather nervously, "this doesn't have anything to do with that…that Twi'lek woman, does it?"

Jali looked up at Xhen. "It's interesting you say that."

Xhen raised his eyebrows. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Jali shrugged. "Nothing," he answered, "it's just interesting." He leaned over to pull the bow to open the package put Xhen put a hand on his arm to prevent him. "What?"

Xhen's face started to go red. "It's just that…you…you should be careful…you know."

Jali frowned. "Haven't you learned by now that there's no use in telling me to be careful? Besides," he added, mischievously lifting his eyebrows. "If this box is set to explode, it'll take out both of us as well as Ayan."

"I figured that," Xhen said, his hand still on Jali's arm.

"I thought you might," Jali said, shrugging off Xhen's grip and pulling the ribbon.

Xhen instinctively shrank back, curling up into a ball next to the wall, covering his hands for his ears and squinting his eyes shut in preparation for what he assumed to be the inevitable explosion.

But nothing happened.

Cautiously, Xhen opened his eyes. Jali was holding what seemed to be a white index card.

"What's that?" Xhen asked. "Another bomb?"

Jali smiled as he read it. "Maybe," he conceded, "but apparently I've been invited for a night of 'exceptional entertainment' at Luba Luft's."

--

Luba Luft's was a gaudy, flashy strip-joint on Vos Gesal Street that Jali had had the good fortune not to need to enter until that evening. He had heard rumours, of course, about what trade they did on the side, but whoever owned the place had either enough money or enough connections—or both, as Jali personally thought—to escape even the occasional Security Force raid.

Of course, there was a long line of males at the door with their pleas to enter the club stopped by an uncompromising Echani bouncer. Yet when Jali had given him the invitation—engraved on ivory he believed—the bouncer unhesitatingly lifted the velvet rope and let Jali in with a polite, "Have an nice evening, sir,".

The card had given specific instructions to go to certain door at the back of the club—the only real door next to a row of fake ones—and show the card again to the man who was waiting there, who looked rather like the Echani bouncer's big brother.

"Door right at the end of the corridor," he told Jali, pocketing the card and turning away from him.

Jali walked the length of the corridor, beneath the red lights that were fastened to the ceiling. Either side of him were closed doors, and from the sounds coming from some of them Jali didn't have to stretch his imagination too far to work out what was going on inside. He finally came to the last door and knocked tentatively. He still wasn't sure what he was letting himself in for.

The door slowly opened, a white-skinned Twi'lek stood on the other side.

"Jali Dawler," she murmured, "it's about time you showed up."

Trevali's white skin was tinged slightly by the overhead lights and she wore a transparent black dress that floated about her ankles. Her red-painted lips were inclined in the form of a smile, her teeth were white and pointed.

"Trevali?" Jali asked uncertainly.

The Twi'lek inclined her head in ascent and grabbed his arm. "Come inside," she whispered, enveloping Jali in an exotic scent as she pulled him in and shut the door.

Jali smiled hesitantly, but didn't resist her grip. He let her lead him to a long chaise lounge covered in leather. She sat opposite him in a matching armchair.

Whatever he was here for, Jali was _definitely_ not planning on being seduced. But for some reason, Trevali knew this even though everything about her and where she they were screamed otherwise.

If Trevali had ulterior motives, she would have made them apparent early on, just as Jali would have made it early on that he wouldn't have been interested. Instead, Trevali looked at him without any emotion.

"I can tell you're just about scared witless by being here," she said in a business-like way, "so I'll get to the point. Basically, I didn't have to meet you, but I chose to."

Jali was confused. "Why?"

"I talked to Tira," Trevali said, "and I decided to help you out, even if it means telling you nothing at all."

"So why go to all this trouble?" he asked.

"Someone needs to put you wise about what's going on," she replied, "and I thought I should do that, before you get your head blown off that is."

Jali smiled. "If you made me come all this way to tell me I'm in imminent danger, I could have saved you the trouble." He pulled out his cigarettes. "Do you mind?" he asked.

Trevali shook her head. "Go ahead," she said. "Just don't let it get on the couch."

The cigarette lit and firmly between his fingers, Jali spoke again. "The Silver Ring's been onto me since I arrested Senix Breen all those years ago," he told her. "They tried to get me before, but it was Tira who stopped them, now I don't have that advantage." He took a deep inhale. "I'm surprised you haven't taken a shot at me yet."

Trevali smiled. "Trust me, as much as I'd like to, you're probably not worth it."

"Nuada might disagree," Jali countered gently.

"Nuada's not the one calling the shots this time," Trevali replied.

"I see," Jali said with a nod. "Aurek."

She smiled again. "So someone _has_ put you wise."

"They have," he conceded. "Just not as much as I'd like."

"Well here's a bit more," Trevali said. "I'd say in about five hours from now someone calling themselves a friend of yours is going to be worth as much as a broken umbrella in a Ryloth storm."

Jali took this as calmly as he could, drawing on his cigarette "So they _have_ decided to do something."

The Twi'lek nodded. "_Unless_…" She held up a finger. "You beat them to it."

Jali stared. "What? Eat a blaster before I go to bed?"

Trevali ignored this. "There's someone else you need to talk to," she told him. "Someone you know…or rather, someone you _thought_ you knew."

"Nuada or Aurek's planted someone on me?" Jali asked.

Trevali didn't reply.

"Why are you telling me this?" Jali asked her.

"There's still time for you to get out of this, Jali," she said. "But I'm not really sure if you want to do that."


	10. Chapter 10

When Jali hurried back to his office, Ayan was still there, reading a magazine at her desk

When Jali hurried back to his office, Ayan was still there, reading a magazine at her desk. She gave Jali a worried look as he came in. He had just managed to talk to her before she left for the night.

"You can go now, Ayan," he told her. "I can lock up."

The Zabrak examined him cautiously. "Are you sure?" she asked. "I got your call and I told him—"

"It's all right," he said, dismissing her doubts with a wave of his hand, "if Xhen is still here, you've done more than I expected you to." Ayan still looked doubtful. "And I'll be fine," he added for good measure."

He went into his inner office and sat on the corner of his desk. Trevali was right, the Silver Ring _had_ planted someone to monitor his activities and probably keep him on the Vertey case. And when he had followed the case to its inevitable end…Jali gave a shudder, he hoped Trevali was all right.

Really, he should have seen the truth before but in a way, he had closed his eyes to it. The facts were staring him in the face that morning, when he and Xhen had found Elya Vertey's body.

The door to the outer office opened and closed, Ayan's footsteps faded away. Jali picked up his comlink.

"I need you to put a continuous location trace on my comlink," he said into it. "No, I'm not doing anything stupid, it's probably the only chance we'll have, you'll just have to trust me…do you have it? Good." He paused for a moment. "I need to you to pass this on to Pallavi Dashiell, you think you can do that?" He spoke for a few minutes more than replaced the 'link in his pocket.

He then took a deep breath, and knocked on Xhen's door. There was an affirmative murmur from within and Jali went inside. The desk was crowded with the flimsies and holopics Xhen was going through.

Jali nodded to the mess on the desk. "Lanco?"

Xhen nodded in reply. "Should have it sewn up in a few days."

"Well," Jali said as he slid into a seat, "by then it will be too late."

Xhen froze. "What do you mean?"

Jali removed a blaster pistol from his hip holster. "Admit it," he said. "Nuada put you on to this, didn't he?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Xhen lied unconvincingly.

Jali ignored him. "You killed Vertey on Nuada's orders," he said, "and Nobu was going to talk, so you took him out too." He gave Xhen a long look. "I should have been onto you before, when Vertey's wife was dead. There was something _very_ strange about that last call she made, wasn't there?"

He placed the blaster on the desk so it was between them, Xhen stared at it.

"So what was in this for you?" Jali demanded. "Were you getting paid? Or does Nuada have something over you?"

Xhen still didn't respond.

"Tell me what happened, Xhen," Jali asked. "What happened after Vertey left the Idobal that night?"

"I got a call from Nuada what was going on and he wanted me to 'handle' it," Xhen said in a rush, his eyes still on the blaster on the desk. "Just a warning to get him off, nothing more. I knew where he was headed and I cornered him at Eastport." He shivered. "It got out of hand, he told me I didn't know what I was doing working for them…"

"Where were you?" Jali asked, trying to picture the scene.

"In some office I dragged him into," Xhen replied, his voice breathless. "There was a glowrod on the desk, we both grabbed it but I got it first." He took several deep breaths, sweat pouring down his face. "It was an accident…" He looked up at Jali, his face desperate and guilty, like a youngling admitting to his father why his sister was lying on the ground screaming with pain. "I didn't mean for it to have happened, it just…" His voice trailed off, Xhen put his hands over his face.

"What happened next?" asked Jali, his voice emotionless.

"I knew Fenn, he owed me a favour," Xhen continued. "He arranged to have Vertey shipped offplanet on the _Prince_, and it would have worked if Fenn hadn't gotten orders from the Judicials to check every ship that was leaving."

_Antiene must have known,_ Jali thought, _I just happened to find the body before she did._ "Where is Fenn?"

"If he's smart, then he's nowhere near here," Xhen replied, "if he isn't, then you work it out, but it wasn't me." He looked sheepishly at Jali. "But I thought you wanted to know the whole story."

Jali nodded. "I do."

"After Vertey, Nuada contacted me and said he was going to turn me in unless I did something for him," Xhen continued. "So he found out you were looking for an assistant, and he sent me."

"The credentials?" Jali asked. "The references from Muscave?"

"They're real," Xhen replied, "of course, they don't know what I've done with myself since I was there." He paused for a moment. "Nobu was stupid, I don't know what you said to him, but I had to make sure he didn't say anything else."

"And Elya Vertey?"

"That was to stop you pursuing the case," Xhen said. "For a moment, I thought you would until that Jedi turned up."

"So what are you going to do now?" Jali asked.

"Same as I was planning to do," he said, picking up the blaster putting the barrel in his mouth.

He flicked off the safety catch and set the weapon to 'kill'.

"Don't try anything stupid," Jali said in a calm voice.

Xhen shook his head and pulled the trigger.

Nothing happened, Xhen took the weapon out of his mouth and stared down at it.

In an instant, Jali pinned Xhen's hand to desk and prised the blaster off him. "Before you pick up a weapon," Jali said, waving the gas canister in Xhen's face. "You should make sure it's loaded first."

He inserted the gas canister into the ignition chamber and cocked it. "Now," he looked up at Xhen, "I have an idea about what we can do next."

Xhen made a quick call


	11. Chapter 11

Half an hour later, Jali and Xhen left an airtaxi and walked for a few blocks

Half an hour later, Jali and Xhen left an airtaxi and walked for a few blocks. They had left Eastport and were in the harsher environs of one Coruscant's industrial sectors.

Jali could feel the heat on his face as they walked, several times he wiped his brow free of sweat and he could feel more running down the back of his neck and down his spine. Was he doing the right thing? Handing himself over like this? It was what Nuada would have wanted, wasn't it? Jali knew he was either being very brave or very foolish by doing this.

One thing was for sure, this wasn't about Lucen Vertey's killer anymore. He'd done that, Xhen was a murderer, but he had been forced into his role in a similar way that Tira had been. Nuada had played on their weaknesses, making them act out of sheer desperation.

And it wasn't even about Antiene's investigation about the illegal weapons anymore, as that was only one thread of many that led to the centre. And that, Jali hoped, was where he was going right now, the centre of everything to stop things like this from happening.

Just as they passed an electrical grid a long black airspeeder slowed to a stop next to them. The doors opened and out jumped two burly Klatooinians, the seized Jali and forced him into the speeder. A third figure, an eyeless human in a dark suit, emerged and spoke with Xhen.

"You've done better than I thought you would," Nuada Vekstar said to him. "You can go now, we'll be in touch."

"But, I thought you…" Xhen faltered.

"You can go now," Nuada repeated.

Xhen didn't protest twice.

Soon enough, Jali was sitting between the two thugs with Nuada sitting across from him. The speeder raced through the deserted streets before taking to the air.

"Did you really have to come all this way just to pick me up, Nuada?" Jali asked impatiently.

The Miralukan made an impatient gesture. "Good to see you still have manners, Dawler." He smiled. "There's something I've been waiting to give you."

He signalled to the Klatooinians. The first one punched Jali in the groin, the second hit him in the stomach. As Jali collapsed in pain, Nuada continued talking. "Now, I know what it is that you're doing," he said calmly. "And seeing as you won't stop, I thought it was time we had a talk." He paused for a few minutes. "You never stop, do you Dawler? It doesn't matter who tells you."

"It's not like that," Jali groaned, "but you're not going to make me."

Nuada leaned forward and grabbed Jali's collar. "Whatever your course is, the plots you put there go right in my direction!" he shouted. "You think I _like_ talking to scum like you? Bah!"

"Perhaps it makes you feel more comfortable," rasped Jali, his air rapidly running out through Nuada's grip.

The Miralukan threw Jali back, Jali collapsed in his seat and gasped for air. "So," Nuada continued, "since you won't listen to what's good for you, I'll take you to meet some friends of mine."

"Aurek?" This was what Jali had been hoping for.

Nuada laughed out loud. "Someone sure keeps you up to speed, Dawler," he sneered. "You probably _won't_ get to see Aurek, not unless you're _very_ lucky." He took out a black cigarette case and opened it. He lit one for himself then offered the case to Jali.

Jali shook his head. "You take the first draw," he said.

Nuada smiled again, removed the cigarette from his mouth and lit another. After a quick inhale he passed it on to Jali. "You know, Dawler," he said casually as he put his own cigarette back in his mouth, "I reckon you're smarter than I gave you credit for." He inhaled deeply. "And that's not a compliment."

--

The windows were tinted, so Jali couldn't be sure where they were going. And even if they weren't, the Klatooinians wouldn't let him move. Before long the speeder was in darkness, as if they had gone into a tunnel. The speeder then slowed and came to a stop. Someone outside opened the door and Nuada got out first, there was a moment's conversation and then the Klatooinians pulled Jali out. Jali hung between his two captors, unable to move.

Nuada waved over a Weequay wearing a battered red helmet. "Search him," he parked, pointing to Jali.

The Weequay relieved Jali of his blaster, wallet, datapad and comlink; the last two were smashed against a metal column to render them inoperable. The broken comlink didn't matter so much now to Jali as he was sure to have been tracked this far.

Now, it was up to him to find out what he could, and stay alive.

But a moment later, Nuada pointed a blaster in Jali's face. He stared up the barrel into Nuada's eyeless visage. Perhaps, he had been wrong. Perhaps he had underestimated Nuada and this was where it all ended.

Nuada seemed to recognise the expression. "No, not that, not yet." He adjusted the setting and fired.


	12. Chapter 12

When Jali came to, he was on a narrow hard bed with a splitting headache worthy of several Mad Mrelfs

When Jali came to, he was on a narrow hard bed with a splitting headache worthy of several Mad Mrelfs. He opened his eyes and tried to see where he was, but all he could make out through the mist that blurred his vision were a pair of violet-coloured eyes, hovering slightly above him. Jali screwed up his face and then opened his eyes again; the purple eyes _did_ belong to a face, the face of a female Zeltron who was bending over him with an expression of concern.

"You've been here a few hours," she said in a soft, floaty voice that seemed to echo through his hazy mind. She leaned closer to him, giving him a view he would rather not have had. "Do you hurt anywhere?" she asked, moving her hand lightly across his forehead.

Jali could still feel his thoughts whir incoherently inside his mind—a direct result of the stun blast—so he could hardly trust himself to string two words together, let along give an answer she could understand. So he just lay there, staring straight ahead of him and wishing like hell there was somewhere else for him to look.

She just smiled at him, her hand travelling down Jali's shoulder and resting underneath his shirt. His immediate reaction was to recoil from her touch, but not only did Jali find that he couldn't move, for some strange reason he did not _want_ to move, not just yet anyway.

"So you decided not to push me away?" the Zeltron asked. "I heard that's what you do when any woman approaches you."

This was true, as a matter of form Jali preferred to do the pursuing himself. However, at this moment, it seemed better just not to do anything. Just lie there, let her talk, let her do what she wanted to do and let himself enjoy it.

"What's your name?" he asked, it was the first thing he had said to her and he was surprised at how even his voice was, compared to what he was feeling that is.

"Kura," she answered, her other hand doing some exploring of its own, "and I already know your name, Jali." She smiled, and drew herself closer to him.

Her lips were centimetres apart from his when he had a moment of clarity, his mind stopped spinning and he looked directly into her eyes. She was a Zeltron, how could he have forgotten? How could he have let her get to him?

With a cry of surprise from Kura, Jali rolled off the bed and onto the floor; Kura skittered a little further away from him staring up at Jali in shock. Jali was still rather groggy when he got to his fleet, yet his thoughts were completely his own.

Kura made a movement towards him but Jali was faster than her, grabbing one of her arms and twisting it painfully behind her back.

"Hey, let me go!" she squealed. "If I don't get you to talk, we'll both be in for it."

"Save it for someone who cares," Jali said unfeelingly, "I guess it was Nuada who put you in here? Or was it someone bigger than him, like Aurek?"

Kura laughed, despite the position she was in. "Aurek's only noticed you recently, Jali," she told him, "but if you want to know about Aurek, I can't tell you anything."

"Why not?" Jali asked, still holding firm to her wrist. "I'm sure he wouldn't mind?"

She laughed again. "Nobody knows anything about Aurek other than the name," she explained, "but it's Nuada who wants you, one way or another."

"What the hell do you mean by that?" Jali demanded.

"I think you get the idea," she replied, struggling again. "You know, you're hurting me," she added in a softer voice.

"Don't think you can try your vapour trick again," he said harshly. "So, what did they want from me that you had to get? I thought that Xhen Rinner was pretty much getting them up to speed on everything."

"Not everything," said Kura, "he didn't know what you and that Jedi had planned."

Jali laughed. "That's all?" He shook his head. "He could have just asked her, or Vantel even. I hardly know her at all."

"You know more than we do," countered Kura.

"Yeah," Jali agreed, "and I'd prefer to keep it that way."

Jali had no idea where Antiene was, or what she had planned. The only thing that _was_ definite was that _she_ knew where _he_ was, but until she showed up he would have to manage things himself. And that started with subduing the girl.

With his free hand and using his foot as an anchor, Jali managed to tear his jacket into strips then tie Kura to the bed with the improvised ropes. He stuffed a few scraps in her mouth so she couldn't cry out then turned his attention towards the door.

The door had a small panel in the top that could be opened from the outside and it was locked securely. But the door wasn't very solid; Jali pressed his ear against it and held his breath. For a moment, he couldn't hear anything, but soon enough he could just hear the sound of footsteps.

There was only one person, so it couldn't be Nuada as he would no doubt have several toughs with him. And it was probably not a guard either, as he could tell from what he heard that whoever was coming was relatively light in build.

Jali pressed himself against the wall next to the door; the footsteps grew louder then stopped. There was a small electronic _beep_ and the door started to slide open. A foot appeared in the doorway but that was all Jali needed, he whirled around, grabbed the shoulders of the person in the doorway and pulled them inside. But it took a few seconds for Jali to realise that it was Xhen Rinner.

In his astonishment, Jali almost let him go. "What the mradhe muck are you doing here, Xhen?" Hadn't Nuada told him to get lost? Or had he been sent here? What Xhen actually said was the last thing he expected at all.

"I'm here to get you out of here," he said.

Jali didn't think he was lying, but he that didn't mean he trusted him. "Why should I believe you? Besides," he added, "I got my own backup."

"I forgot," said Xhen dryly, "your Jedi friend. But don't you think it's going to look a bit strange if we're seen standing here near the open door?"

He did have a point. "Fine," Jali agreed reluctantly, "you get me out of here, _then_ we'll talk."

--

There didn't seem to be that many people of the building, which gave Jali the impression that it wasn't the weapons factory that Antiene had been looking for. There were guards, which Jali and Xhen managed to dodge quite easily as they made their way through the building.

"What is this place?" he asked Xhen after a while.

"It's a Silver Ring safehouse," Xhen explained, "there's several on Coruscant, and I asked Trevali and she told me you were here."

"How would she know?" Jali asked.

"How would she _not_ know?" Xhen countered. "She's been my go-between all along, as well as someone else's."

"Like W'kar Fenn?" Jali suggested.

Xhen raised his eyebrows in amazement. "Drok it, Jali, you really _do_ know more than what's good for you."

"Then why are you here saving my sorry hide?" Jali demanded.

Xhen hesitated for a moment. "I don't know," he admitted, "probably the same reason why you didn't turn me in when you found out about me."

_It figures_, Jali said to himself, _and just a few hours ago, he was about to kill himself._ Jali asked himself why continued to trust Xhen, but in this case he didn't exactly have a choice. Except, maybe to tie Xhen up and put him in the cell with Kura, but that could raise even more questions. And Jali wasn't sure if he wanted Xhen left to the mercy of whoever found him there, it gave him a bad feeling.

They continued down the corridor, sticking to the shadows, going as quickly and quietly as they could. Sooner or later, someone was going to find Kura tied up in the cell, and Jali didn't want to be around when that happened.

After making a few detours to avoid more guards, they went down a set of stairs and into a corridor that finished with a dead end.

"And this is how I got in," he said, pointing to the service droid lift.

Jali stared at it for a moment, vaguely remembering Antiene talking about taking the droid's entrance to buildings.

--

He looked at Xhen. While Xhen had helped him, he still didn't completely trust him. "You go first," Jali insisted, bending down to lift open the panel. He then stood in front of the open door and looked at Xhen expectantly.

But the tail end of the conversation that drifted towards them made Jali change his mind.

"…don't know how he managed to stop _her_, but we'll find him…"

They started to walk towards where Jali and Xhen were, and by the sound of them there were a lot of them.

Xhen removed a blaster from his pocket, he glanced at Jali. He looked rather pale. For a moment, Jali considered taking the blaster off him.

Xhen changed that. "Go!" he whispered urgently.

And he had to admit, Xhen had a point. After all, Xhen could quickly cook up some story to explain to whoever was coming why he was there. Jali couldn't.

It was a decision he would ultimately come to regret.

Quickly, Jali ducked into the droid lift, it was cramped but would fit as long as he hugged his knees. Jali slid the panel shut just as they entered the room.

"Where is he?" someone asked Xhen. "We know you helped him, we know you let him go."

"He's gone," Xhen lied, "left the building, but I didn't go with him."

Jali hoped to hell that they believed him, as he had always known Xhen to be a very bad liar, especially under pressure.

"Cut the phobium!" another shouted. "Where is he?"

_What am I doing here?_ Jali asked himself suddenly, _chances are, they all have their backs to me._ He tried to open the door, but there was something blocking it on the other side. Then the lift started to descend, carrying him away from what sounded light the sounds of the fight. There were more shouts, then the definite sound of shots being fired and finally a long silence that was only broken by a vaguely familiar voice, "…well, that takes care of _him_."

The lift stopped and Jali slid the panel open, coming out to a storage area. When he discovered that he couldn't get the lift working without a droid, he slowly walked to the far wall of the building, opened the door and went outside—to where the exterior of the building was completely surrounded by Security Force and Judicial personnel. Several bright lights were instantly trained on him, Jali squinted with the intensity, his breath coming out in clouds as he tried to hide his eyes.

"Freeze!" called a magnified voice. "Place your hands above your head!"

Jali readily compiled, and he stood there for a few minutes, not doing anything, not even _thinking_ anything.

Did Xhen _have_ to die for what he did? After all, he _had_ killed three people including a completely innocent woman. He was weak, had basically crumbled after Vertey's accidental death and Nuada had willingly exploited that weakness and from then on had reacted like a scuttlerat trying to get it's way out of a trap.

Was it Nuada Vekstar who had killed him up there? Somehow, Jali preferred to think it was even though he hadn't heard the Miralukan's voice. Though Nuada _was_ responsible, as he and Antiene had said in Blackbirds just yesterday, Vekstar used people that were expendable.

"You can put your hands down now," Antiene said calmly, waving to the people behind her.

Jali turned to look at her, how long had she been standing there? She smiled at him, her fair hair moving about her face in the night air.

"Who's in there?" she asked him, drawing him slowly away from the building and towards the perimeter they had set up.

There were people moving into the building now, Jali could see the lights on some of the rifles flashing as they went in.

"A few people," he told Antiene, watching the people moving rather than her, it was easier than looking the Jedi in the eye. "Guards, a Zeltron woman, I didn't see much of them."

"What about important people?" she asked. "Nuada, Aurek?"

"I don't know anything about Aurek," he replied in a low voice, "but Nuada was there, don't know if he is now, though."

"If he's there, we'll find him," Antiene promised.

"Somehow I don't think you will," said Jali in a flat voice.

There was a pause. "That was a really good idea you had," she said, "but stupid. If you hadn't had me…"

"I would have done something else," Jali finished for her, still in the same flat, lifeless voice. "But it wasn't that good, Xhen's dead."

Antiene stared at him in surprise. "What? What happened in there? Tell me!"

Jali told her, though not everything, leaving out most of the part about him and Kura. When he finished, Antiene was thoughtful.

"He was a killer, but…" She shook her head.

Jali nodded. "Just the way I feel," he said, "it's that 'but' that I just can't get past." He added for good measure, "I should have done something."

"There was nothing you could have done," she reminded him.

"Except what?" Jali demanded, looking at her at last. "Pushed open the door maybe? Took some of those thugs from behind, perhaps? Or maybe even find a droid ride the lift back up and finish them off?" Jali screwed up his face in frustration. "I think the worst thing about this is, the fact that I _didn't_ do something. He was trying to do the right thing, and me," Jali shook his head, "I'm the one who fragged up."

"Don't worry," Antiene reassured as the first of the prisoners were coming back under escort, Nuada wasn't among them and nor would he be. She took his hand in hers. "We'll get him," she promised, "we'll find who did it."


End file.
